Like most in sports media or anywhere else for that matter, I didn’t have ‘Adrian Wojnarowski retires from ESPN and the media business’ on my bingo card for a random Wednesday. Wojnarowski posted a note on social media announcing he was making a major life change. Shortly thereafter, St. Bonaventure announced he was hired as their new General Manager of the men’s basketball team.
If you know anything about ‘Woj’ you know that what makes him great is that he works tirelessly at this job. He has been really good at it for a long time and the only way you continue to be great at those jobs is to continue to break news. I heard a few people bring up the question of why these insiders feel the need to work so hard to be first, when most people don’t know who had the information first. Well, the answer lies in the 5-year $35 million contract he had with the network. They see it as important, and they’ll pay talent well who can deliver on it.
Barring any information coming to light that says otherwise, this appears to be one of those rare times when someone truly wants to put themselves and their family first. Someone takes a look at how crazy their life has become, ultimately for a job and doing the job for a company that has a history of layoffs. So, he decided how it would end, when it would end, and what he gets to do next.
Wojnarowski is 55 years old, and he has been at this since he was 18. I am about to turn 50 myself at the end of this year, and I think it is something about those years, in between your 50’s and 60’s when it is only natural for people to think about where they are at in life and perhaps only having one last chance to really do something different if that is what you want to do. Given the landscape in media right now, Woj could probably pile on for five more years, do all the ‘things’ people in sports media are doing these days, and really rake in some serious money. But it seems the money isn’t the most important thing to him these days, and if that is really the case than what a great position to be in. He has earned it.
Something else that was amazing about this story was the reaction from his colleagues, competitors, readers, viewers, and those he covered. This is sports media and there just aren’t that many people universally liked. And Senator Hawley aside, it feels pretty universal that Woj is well liked and must have been fair in his coverage based on how the NBA world has reacted.
Now, while some others have focused on the large financial gap there may be between being one of ESPN’s insiders versus his new position with St. Bonaventure, I see something else. I see him getting to be tied, every day, to an athletic program and team that he is incredibly passionate about. He has already been doing fundraising for the school’s collective, so he has been doing part of the job already. So, while college sports is a mess right now, he isn’t going into this blind by any stretch.
The school described the new role as one where Wojnarowski “will serve the coaching staff in managing a wide range of responsibilities including name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities and as a liaison with collectives; transfer portal management; recruit, family and alumni player relationships; professional player programs; and program fundraising.”
So, this is the job Woj is taking to get away from the crazy stress of being a sports media insider. Think about that for a moment. Think about what you know about just three of the terms mentioned in the school’s description: ‘NIL’, ‘collectives’ and ‘transfer portal’. I thought ESPN’s Peter Burns said it best when he wrote on X, “Never knew how stressful Woj’s job was until he decided working with College NIL was considered to be more relaxing.”
No kidding.
Now with that said, forget about the money and the disastrous state of college athletics, and just think about the position he accepted. Kinda cool, no? Pick your favorite sports team, the one you are most passionate about and think about getting to focus just on making sure that team has what it needs to succeed. To be able to work with the players and coaches, the big donors, the major sponsors. To spend all of your work hours just focused on that team or program. I can see why it was enticing to Wojnarowski.
At the end of the day, sports media has lost an important piece with Woj deciding to change course. For almost 40 years he has given knowledge to sports fans and as only he could, he dropped a bomb on us all on his way out of the business. Good luck, Woj!
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
