NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Concise insights on global finance in the Covid-19 era. ------------------------------------------------- PLAYBOOK. Axios, the media startup launched at the height of Donald Trump’s presidency, may merge with sports site The Athletic, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s a smart way to play the Trump slump. Axios, co-founded in 2017 by ex-Politico executives, was perfectly timed to capitalize on the reality TV star’s madcap term in office. Now that he’s out of White House, some media firms are bracing for a decline in subscriptions and viewers. The New York Times, after seeing a record rise in paying readers, warned these may taper with the news cycle. Cable networks CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are experiencing ratings drops amid the relative calm of Joe Biden’s administration. What better way to counter the political slump than with evergreen sports coverage? There are plenty of events to keep sports junkies hooked like college basketball championship March Madness. The combination of news and sports is an easy media lay-up. Now, they just need to find a SPAC with extra cash to complete the circle. (By Jennifer Saba) BREAKINGVIEWS Reuters Breakingviews is the world"s leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time. Sign up for a free trial of our full service at https://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors.