Washington Post could fold sports section – Business News
The Washington Post could shut down its total sports section after management knowledgeable staffers that it was abruptly scrapping its deliberate protection of the 2026 Winter Olympics two weeks earlier than the opening ceremony.
The choice by the Jeff Bezos-owned publication to cancel protection of the Winter Games coincides with a report from Puck News journalist Dylan Byers, who tweeted on Saturday that “massive layoffs” on the paper had been imminent.
According to Byers, there may be elevated chatter that the Washington Post’s “sports desk could be shuttered entirely” and that its “foreign desk will be hit hard too.”
A Washington Post spokesperson was not instantly out there to remark.
The Washington Post, the newspaper owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos (above), gained’t be sending reporters to cowl the Winter Olympics. AP
Washington Post managing editor Kimi Yoshino knowledgeable more than a dozen journalists on Friday that the paper wouldn’t ship reporters to the Milano Cortina Games, regardless of months of planning and substantial spending already authorised by management.
“As we assess our priorities for 2026, we have decided not to send a contingent to the Winter Olympics,” Yoshino wrote in an inner e-mail reviewed by The New York Times.
“We realize this decision and its timing will be disappointing to many of you, so please reach out to me if you want to talk further.”
The transfer blindsided staffers as many reporters had already paid for flights, housing and work space, people conversant in the matter advised the Times.
Housing prices alone totaled a minimum of $80,000, with the overwhelming majority of Olympic-related bills already spent, the Times reported.
Rumors are rampant that the Washington Post might totally shutter its sports section. Getty Images
The Washington Post had secured 14 credentials for the Games and sometimes sends between 10 and 20 newsroom workers to cowl the Olympics.
Just two years in the past, it dispatched 26 journalists to the Paris Summer Games — its largest Olympic deployment on document, a Washington Post worker advised the Times.
Instead, the paper pulled the plug days earlier than journey was set to start.
The doable closure of the Washington Post’s sports section would mark a important step for a newspaper that for many years produced some of essentially the most influential names in American sports journalism.
NEW: Massive layoffs coming to Washington Post… rumor inside Post is that sports desk could be shuttered totally… international desk will likely be hit laborious too— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) January 25, 2026
Over the years, the publication has boasted an spectacular roster of big-name writers together with Shirley Povich, Thomas Boswell, Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, Christine Brennan, John Feinstein and Sally Jenkins.
Washington Post management has instituted layoffs and job cuts because the industry has seen radical change introduced on by viewers fragmentation and the speedy rise of new applied sciences.
The transfer to scrap Olympics protection blindsided staffers as many reporters had already paid for flights, housing and work space, it was reported. Getty Images
According to the Washington Post Guild, a minimum of 60 journalists accepted buyouts in 2025 alone — half of a broader exodus that included distinguished columnists and veteran reporters throughout a number of desks.
The upheaval is rooted in long-running financial pressure.
When Will Lewis took over as writer and CEO in late 2023, the paper was already bleeding money — a actuality he acknowledged publicly in 2024 after disclosing a $77 million loss the prior yr.
In 2024, the losses worsened considerably — with the Washington Post estimated to have been $100 million within the pink for the yr.
