ESPN will be moving its Los Angeles-based editions of SportsCenter and soccer programming to its primary network headquarters in Bristol, Conn., impacting 35 of the 229 employees based at the production center. Employees have been given the option to relocate to Bristol and keep their same jobs or choose to accept similar roles, while those who decline to make the move will have severance eligibility and produce shows through later in May. NBA studio programming, including NBA Today and NBA Countdown, will continue operating out of the ESPN Los Angeles Production Center, which is located near Crypto.com Arena, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Based on our current business needs, we are relocating the L.A.-based ‘SportsCenter’ and soccer studio shows to ESPN’s Bristol headquarters, including the limited number of employee positions related to these shows,” ESPN said in a statement provided to Mollie Cahillane of Sports Business Journal. “The Los Angeles Production Center will continue to host ESPN’s NBA studio productions and provide office space to additional L.A.-based employees.”
The Los Angeles facility first opened 16 years ago and was the location where the SportsCenter starring Stan Verrett and Neil Everett aired for many years. While Everett was let go by the network in 2023, Verrett continues to host the show from the locale, and his status with the network is not yet known. The status of Linda Cohn, who is the longest-tenured SportsCenter anchor at the company, also remains unknown at this time.
As previously reported by Dylan Byers of Puck, ESPN was planning to close its Los Angeles and South Street Seaport studios no later than this year. Details of any further moves at either location have not been announced, the latter of which houses studio shows such as Get Up, First Take and Around the Horn. The decision is said to be unrelated to reported talks with the National Football League to acquire NFL Media, which is based near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., the location of the first-ever ESPN Super Bowl broadcast in 2027.
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