The day that we have been counting down to in the sports media world has arrived. As first reported by Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, ESPN is set to make dramatic reductions to its on-air staff Friday.
“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” the company said in a statement. “This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead. This is an extremely challenging process, involving individuals who have had tremendous impact on our company. These difficult decisions, based more on overall efficiency than merit, will help us meet our financial targets and ensure future growth.”
Jeff Van Gundy is the first big name to be confirmed as out at the company. He had been at ESPN for 16 years calling NBA games. Van Gundy just finished calling the NBA Finals alongside Mike Breen and Mark Jackson, and concludes his ESPN career just short of calling 100 Finals matchups. The basketball color commentator and former NBA head coach with the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets had one year remaining on his contract, and he declined to comment on the move when reached by The Athletic. ESPN is expected to replace him on its lead NBA commentary team with an internal candidate. JJ Redick, Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson are reportedly the most likely candidates to fill the coveted role.
Layoffs continued Friday morning when the network let go of NBA Countdown analyst Jalen Rose. Before focusing on the signature pregame show, Rose’s daily show, Jalen & Jacoby, ended after 11 years on the air. While he was still playing in the NBA, Rose began contributing to FOX Sports Net on the Best Damn Sports Show Period and also created his own production company, Three Tier Entertainment. It remains to be seen whether the NBA on ESPN will seek to replace Rose on NBA Countdown after he was part of the revamped show featuring Mike Greenberg, Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon.
The network’s NBA coverage took an additional hit with the departure of Nick Friedell from the outlet. Friedell was a venerated reporter for the outlet and helped launch the ESPNChicago.com platform. Before the 2018-19 season, his reporting shifted towards the Golden State Warriors dynasty, and he has since covered the NBA at a national scale. While with the network, he contributed to myriad programming, including NBA Today, Outside the Lines and SportsCenter.
The network’s football coverage took a hit with the layoffs of talent as well. Suzy Kolber is moving on from the network after nearly three decades in Bristol. The Monday Night Countdown host and member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame member confirmed on Twitter that she was among the network personalities let go. In her message, she expressed her gratitude for her time at ESPN and being a woman in sports media.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Steve Young was laid off from the network as well, marking another loss for the Monday Night Countdown crew. Young joined ESPN in 2000 and worked as an analyst on four Super Bowl pregame shows on ABC. Additionally, he has contributed to live game broadcasts during the network’s season-opening doubleheaders and appeared on its Super Bowl coverage.
NFL Draft expert Todd McShay has been cut by the network, seemingly marking a period of transition of coverage for the marquee event. McShay made his ESPN debut in 2014 as a college football analyst and had previously contributed to a wide array of its platforms. Additionally, he served as the director of college football scouting for ESPN’s partner, Scouts, Inc. The impact McShay’s dismissal will have on the partnership remains to be seen.
ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown‘s Matt Hasselbeck was eliminated by the network, with the news becoming public early Friday afternoon. Hasselbeck was previously a quarterback in the National Football League and made the transition on the same day he retired from the sport. ESPN utilized him on coverage of the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, along with providing analysis on ESPN Radio, NFL Live and SportsCenter. Matt’s brother, Tim, currently works as a football analyst for ESPN and the ACC Network.
College football coverage felt the impact of the talent layoffs with the departure of college football analyst David Pollack. Formerly a member of the University of Georgia football team and an NFL linebacker, Pollack had been with ESPN since 2009 and on College GameDay since 2011. Throughout his time with the network, he worked as an analyst on the network’s Thursday Night College Football broadcast and also co-hosted Palmer & Pollack on ESPNU. Prior to joining ESPN, Pollack was a sports radio host at 790 The Zone in Atlanta, Ga. and worked on studio coverage for CBS Sports.
News leaked last week that ESPN Radio is ending its morning show, Keyshawn, JWill and Max. While Jay Williams’ contract is set to expire this fall, Friday news broke that Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman had both been let go. Johnson made regular appearances on NFL Live and First Take. Kellerman had been hosting a show called This Just In, which was expected to be cancelled to make room for Pat McAfee’s show this fall.
ESPN Radio also lost Jason Fitz to the layoffs, who worked on Fitz & Harry with Harry Douglas since 2013. Before working with Douglas, Fitz previously hosted an ESPN Radio program with ESPN personality and espnW writer Sarah Spain. In addition to his roles on radio, Fitz made contributions to ESPN’s digital coverage as a host of SportsCenter on Snapchat and First Take, Your Take.
College basketball coverage took a hit too. LaPhonso Ellis is out after fourteen years in Bristol. Ellis was one of the network’s most prominent men’s college hoops analysts, having been a part of College GameDay since the 2009-2010 season.
On the football side, College GameDay correspondent and reporter Gene Wojciechowski announced his exit from the network and expressed his gratitude for his colleagues throughout his 25-and-a-half years working for the company. Before joining ESPN, Wojciechowski worked for the Chicago Tribune and reported on national college football and basketball. While working for ESPN, he was a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and a national columnist for ESPN.com where he reported on college football, golf and various other sports.
Aside from Ellis, ACC Huddle host and college basketball analyst Jordan Cornette was dismissed from the network. While with the “Worldwide Leader,” Cornette augmented his versatility by working both in studio and on site for matchups. His tenure with the network began in 2018 after co-hosting Kap & Co. on ESPN 1000 in Chicago.
Staff writer Joon Lee took to Twitter to announce that he is out. Lee arrived at ESPN nearly four years ago after a stint at Bleacher Report, and primarily contributed to the network’s baseball coverage. Digital entities at the network utilized Lee to report news and produce longform feature content, including an examination on women in the sport and the unwritten rules of the game. While he does not know his next move, it should be noted that Lee has experience writing for newspapers, such as The Washington Post and Boston Herald.
Ashley Brewer has also been terminated by the network – the first SportsCenter-related departure announced on Friday. The versatile talent, based in Los Angeles, Calif., had been used in a variety of ways across both ABC and ESPN. Brewer inked a new contract with ESPN two years ago, a career milestone that started when she worked as a college football sideline reporter in Tucson, Ariz.
Some cuts were known before Friday, trickling out in recent weeks as the network prepared for the deluge of difficult decisions.
Football analyst Rob Ninkovich and hockey analyst Chris Chelios have already been let go. Longtime SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett chose to leave rather than take a reduced salary. ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro reportedly chose to go forward with this extra round of layoffs, which goes beyond The Walt Disney Company mandate of 7,000 employees to slash $5.5 billion in costs.
Since it is considered to be its own distinct business by The Walt Disney Company under reorganization from chief executive officer Bob Iger, ESPN will report its own financial metrics for the first time this November. According to sources, the numbers are expected to be impressive, but the layoffs are representative of prudence to ensure sustained success in the rapidly evolving media ecosystem. The company is also reportedly developing a direct-to-consumer option through “Project Flagship,” and is expected to arrive in 2025 or 2026.
Barrett Sports Media will not speculate on who is and is not in trouble. We will keep a running list throughout the day of who has been let go as those reports become public.
