The Atlantic is giving new meaning to the word sponsorship.
The 168-year-old magazine announced a first-of-its-kind, three-year partnership with the luxury cruise line Seabourn on Monday, which will bring its writers, editorial programming, and subscription access aboard Seabourn voyages starting this fall. The company declined to offer further financial specifics of the deal.
The partnership spans advertising, sponsorship, and subscription enablement, according to Alice McKown, publisher and chief revenue officer of The Atlantic. It will culminate in fall 2028 with a full 12-day route takeover from Montreal to Boston, the city where The Atlantic was founded in 1857.
“We realized we could do more than just an advertising relationship,” McKown said. “We thought of it as a joint business opportunity for both of us. The passengers win because they get new experiences, a subscription, access to our writers. And it is new for our writers too—it allows them to bring their stories to life in a different way.”
The partnership is rooted in a thesis McKown has been developing since joining the company four years ago, which is that the affluence—not just influence—of its readers could open up budgets from luxury advertisers.
The Seabourn deal adds an international and travel-focused dimension to that playbook, one that fits squarely into this evolving commercial identity. Travel and luxury have emerged as two of its strongest advertising categories heading into Q2, which is on pace to be the company’s best second quarter in at least four years, up 30% year over year, per McKown.
As part of the deal, passengers aboard routes that feature Atlantic programming will receive complimentary digital access while onboard, plus a three-month subscription after disembarking. The Atlantic is also curating the libraries aboard each ship, stocking them with recent issues and books by its writers, both current and historical.
