One of the faces of SportsCenter’s hey day is leaving Bristol. Kenny Mayne announced on Twitter that he is leaving ESPN, describing himself as a “salary cap casualty”.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post provided some details. According to his source, Mayne was offered a new deal by the network. It would have meant a pay cut, which Mayne was apparently not willing to take.
“This is a trend in many of its negotiations as it tries to ‘market corrects’ what it views as exorbitant salaries,” Marchand noted.
Mayne came to ESPN in 1994. He was hired after sending a tape along with a note that has become something of legend in the broadcast industry. It asked if ESPN would hire him with multiple options with boxes next to them to check. One of the options was “We’ll hire you when there is an ESPN5.”
He joined SportsCenter as Dan Patrick’s co-anchor at 11 pm after Keith Olberman departed in 1997. He brought new attention to those days last summer in a series of commercials that ran during ESPN’s The Last Dance. He also hosted projects like RPM2Night, Kenny Mayne’s Wider World of Sports, Mayne Street and more.
Colleagues across the broadcast industry expressed thanks to Mayne and their disappointment upon reading the news.
