Reports of a looming round of layoffs for ESPN began about a month ago, now they appear to be imminent, with cuts beginning as early as Thursday Nov. 5.
As strong as ESPN’s brand is globally, they haven’t been immune to layoffs in recent years. If cuts do occur, it will be ESPN’s third significant round of layoffs in the last five years, having let 350 employees go in 2015, and another 100 two years later. Now, as industries continue to be ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not surprising that ESPN is searching for cost savings.
Similar to the 2015 cuts, the looming layoffs are expected to feature mostly behind-the-scenes workers. But according to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic, some ESPN talent won’t see their contracts renewed as a cost saving effort.
Just over a month ago, ESPN’s parent company Disney announced 28,000 people would be laid off from its Parks, Experiences and Production unit. ESPN currently has about 4,000 employees in Bristol, CT, and 6,500 around the globe. These layoffs come as Disney and ESPN are also reportedly interested in spending $1 billion to acquire more NFL broadcast rights.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
Comments are closed.