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Tom Pelissero’s run at NFL Network is over. After spending nearly a decade there, the longtime insider was laid off by ESPN on Tuesday, July 21, even though he had another year left on his deal. The move comes after Disney bought NFL Network earlier this year, shifting Pelissero and other NFL Network staffers over to ESPN in the first place.
However, Pelissero was not alone in getting axed by the network. The cuts were widespread across ESPN, with the network also letting go of NFL analyst Ryan Clark, former players Cam Newton and Bart Scott, and veteran baseball broadcaster Karl Ravech, among several others.
The veteran NFL analyst shared his feelings in an X post, where he wrote, “Thanks to all of you who watched me the past nine years on NFL Network. Thanks to all of my colleagues who made the job fun and pushed me on a daily basis. Thanks to my family, who constantly made sacrifices to support me in a life-consuming job”, as he signed off with a “See you soon” and Ted Lasso’s “Onward. Forward” GIF.
Pelissero Was One Of Football’s Most Trusted News-Breakers
Pelissero, a Minnesota native, came to NFL Network in 2017 after spending time covering the Vikings and Packers. Before landing at the network, he had worked the NFL beat for USA Today and hosted shows on both SiriusXM NFL Radio and 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Over the years, Pelissero emerged as one of football’s go-to insiders and most trusted sources for breaking news, sitting alongside established names like Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo, and Adam Schefter.
Interestingly, given his standing as a prominent NFL voice, Pelissero figures to land somewhere quickly. According to Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel, teams and media outlets should be competing for him, especially since ESPN’s essentially locked down the insider market in recent years.
Meanwhile, Pelissero likely won’t be the last to go either. ESPN’s layoffs typically come in waves, and this batch is just the latest chapter in a decade-plus string of cuts at the network. The layoffs arrived nearly six months after Disney wrapped up its acquisition of NFL Network, a deal that netted Disney a 10% stake in ESPN.
Most of the cuts stem directly from the NFL Network acquisition, according to an internal memo from ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro that Front Office Sports obtained. Pitaro said, “Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN.”
“Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today,” the ESPN chairman added.
Pitaro further added, “While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted. We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition.”
Apart from Pelissero, some of the big names who have lost their jobs across multiple sports are Ryan Clark, Karl Ravech, David Lloyd, Stephania Bell, Charles Davis, Cam Newton, Bart Scott, Andreas Hale, and Dan Hajducky.
