John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal is reporting that layoffs could be coming to Fox Sports. According to his report, today is the day where some Fox employees have to decide whether to take a company-offered buyout or gamble that they will not be part of an ensuing round of layoffs that insiders say is inevitable.
A month ago, 21st Century Fox offered voluntary buyouts to long-term and older employees as a way to cut costs. Staffers who have been at Fox for at least 15 years or are 55 years and older were offered one month’s pay for every year of employment.
The company aims to eliminate $250 million in expenses. Insider reports suggest that hundreds of positions will be eliminated across 21st Century Fox, either through buyouts or, eventually, layoffs.
“Fox just got too fat and too bloated,” one former executive said. “It’s time for them to re-evaluate and adapt to the media business of 2016.”
Outside of its big live events, FS1’s TV ratings have underperformed, and that’s negatively impacted the channel’s advertising revenue. Several of the network’s signature shows (Crowd Goes Wild and America’s Pregame) were cancelled, and Jamie Horowitz was hired as president to try and turn the ship in the right direction.
Horowitz has since lured Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock to Fox, so the company is not afraid to spend top dollar for top tier talent. However, poor performances from the company’s movie studio, less revenue generated in television advertising, and higher rights fees for programming, have all had an impact on the company’s bottom line, thus creating a need to eliminate salaries.
To read the full report visit the Sports Business Journal where it was originally published
