Adam Schefter has come under fire several times in the last 12 months for some of the things he tweets. Most recently, he has been criticized for mentioning Dwayne Haskins’s struggle to remain a starter in the NFL when announcing the quarterback’s death. John Skipper, speaking on the South Beach Sessions podcast, says the criticism clearly hasn’t swayed the way ESPN values its NFL Insider.
Its Twitter that has mostly landed Adam Schefter in the crosshairs. His tweet regarding a grand jury choosing not to indict DeShaun Watson said the then-Texans quarterback was innocent as opposed to simply not being charged with a crime. His report about domestic violence accusations against Vikings running back Dalvin Cook cited only Cook’s lawyer. Most prominently, a leaked email to Bruce Allen showed that Schefter let the former Washington Team President approve a story before it was published.
“I don’t think it cost him anything financially, the issues that he had,” Skipper said to host and partner at Meadowlark Media Dan Le Batard.
ESPN values an audience that values information. That is what Schefter delivers. So, when Le Batard asked if the reporter was worth the reported $7 million a year ESPN is paying him, John Skipper didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely! Schefter has 9-10 million followers. That’s valuable. What’s valuable to ESPN? Sports rights and news. That’s their business.”
