SerpApi.Org
With 74 days to go before Disney's fiscal year wraps and on the heels of the closure of its $3 billion acquisition of NFL Network, ESPN is executing its first major round of layoffs since 2023.
In a memo to staffers, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Tuesday confirmed that while "most of the job impacts are tied to the [NFL Network] acquisition," a number of employees that are unaffiliated with the recently onboarded unit are also being let go.
ESPN has not provided guidance as to how many people would be out of a job when this latest culling has been completed, although at least eight on-air talents have been laid off thus far. Among the familiar faces who will no longer be suiting up for ESPN include NFL analyst Ryan Clark and MLB play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech, a 33-year Bristol veteran.
Ravech, who'd served as the lead mic on Sunday Night Baseball until ESPN punted that element of its MLB package to NBC in the spring, was informed of Pitaro's decision just hours after calling the network's telecast of Monday night's Dodgers-Phillies game.
Clark's ouster, meanwhile, was botched, as a leak left ESPN brass scrambling to inform the former Steelers safety that he was being released Monday during an NFL Live commercial break. Also exiting are NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, NFLN analyst Charles Davis and First Take contributor Cam Newton.
Layoffs are expected to continue throughout the day, with the most significant cuts being made among the ranks of behind-the-scenes staffers. That said, the latest cuts are not expected to be as sweeping as those that rocked the company in 2023, when dozens of employees-including 20 on-air hosts and analysts (Suzy Kolber, Jeff Van Gundy, Jalen Rose, et al)-were let go.
Upon being granted regulatory approval to go through with the NFL Network deal in February, ESPN's implied valuation was set at $30 billion. As part of the exchange for its media assets, the NFL acquired a 10% stake in ESPN, leaving Disney with a 72% controlling interest of the business while Hearst Corp. retained an 18% stake.
According to Disney's first-quarter earnings report, the company-should certain unspecified performance metrics be reached-will have the option to reacquire the NFL's stake in ESPN after July 2034, in exchange for a 10-year note at "70% of the then-fair market value."
In his memo to ESPN staffers, Pitaro noted the company has "made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN." Over the last six months, ESPN has "taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future," Pitaro wrote, which subsequently led to his having to make "some difficult decisions about job impacts."
In recent times, ESPN executed its most gutting rounds of dismissals between 2015 and 2017, when it let go of more than 550 people.
