The Athletic is temporarily opening its doors.
The New York Times-owned subscription outlet announced Wednesday that its 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage will be free to read in its app through July 19, the day of the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
NYT-owned The Athletic, normally paywalled, says it is making its World Cup coverage free to read in its app until the day of the final on 19 July.
— Press Gazette (@pressgazette) June 11, 2026
Per the NYT Company’s announcement, free access applies to all World Cup content in The Athletic’s app, covering the full run of the tournament from Thursday’s opening matches through the final five weeks. Subscribers will continue to have access to all non-World Cup content as normal.
The Athletic has spent months making clear that this tournament is its biggest editorial priority. Speaking to Awful Announcing in January, director of creative development Chris Sprow framed the World Cup coverage the same way the outlet approached the Olympics, as a pop-up product designed to pull in readers who have never paid for The Athletic and show them what they’re missing.
“We’re going to do the same thing with the World Cup,” Sprow said. “No offense to anybody else, but I think we have the best soccer reporting on the planet.”
On the editorial side, Laura Williamson — editor-in-chief of The Athletic’s UK newsroom and global soccer coverage — told Awful Announcing last month that the outlet will have reporters at all 104 games across all 16 host cities, with over 100 journalists producing written, video, social, and podcast content.
“We’ll have more writers on the ground throughout the three host countries than any other outlet,” Williamson said. “We’re hoping it’s going to be a one-stop shop for whatever level of fandom you approach it with.”
The outlet has also added to its soccer roster ahead of the tournament, hiring former USMNT forward Charlie Davies and ex-Yahoo Sports writer Henry Bushnell last summer to expand its coverage team.
The World Cup has a way of minting new soccer fans every four years. People who couldn’t name a player in January are suddenly watching group stage games at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday. Those are the readers The Athletic is after — and for five weeks, all they have to do is download the app
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.