Over the course of the calendar year, a variety of media companies have engaged in layoffs in order to cut costs and/or reallocate existing resources. The NFL is in the midst of layoffs impacting “a limited number of positions” in its media sector according to the league. The league said it was because of changing economic circumstances, then it proceeded to agree to a reported $110 million deal with NBC to air an NFL playoff game exclusively on Peacock. It drew the ire of Sports Illustrated reporter Albert Breer.
“That the NFL conducted layoffs due to the economic ‘realities’ of 2023 while putting down $110 million to give a single playoff game to a streaming service is… a pretty good indicator on who the owners are,” Breer tweeted Monday evening.
Usually, reporters covering the NFL are careful in the language they use to describe instances in this nature because of the relationships they foster with sources. In this scenario though, Breer, as a former NFL Media employee, was unabashed in speaking on the optics.
One of the most criticized moves was the exit of Jim Trotter, who was let go by the network in April after declining a three-month severance package with a non-disclosure agreement as a term.
Trotter publicly questioned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about a lack of diversity in the media sector’s leadership, and he stated that his agent was informed by the network that there was no reason to believe his contract would not be renewed.
Rachel Bonetta was another high profile talent that lost her job at NFL Network. Willie McGinst is also out, although he had been off the air for a number of months after video emerged of him in a fight at an LA-area restaurant.
Breer has been forthright regarding what it was like working for the league-owned media entity in the past, expressing that being able to effectively do his job gradually changed. He explained how the boundary between the league and the media dwindled and eventually rendered nonexistent, compelling him to depart from the company. He had previously been removed from the New England Patriots’ reporting beat when he heavily questioned head coach Bill Belichick in a press conference.
“You’re taught for all these years to challenge people, and that’s your job and everything else,” Breer said while appearing on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, Mass. “I think you guys got a first-hand look at what happened when I started challenging people.”
