ESPN is implementing layoffs tied to a deal it closed earlier this year with the NFL.
Chairman Jimmy Pitaro confirmed the cutbacks in a memo to employees Tuesday (read it in full below). The reductions primarily involve behind-the-scenes production staffers, but a handful of on-air personalities also are leaving including lead baseball play-by-play voice Karl Ravech and NFL analyst Ryan Clark.
The layoffs are part of broader cuts across Disney to be revealed over the course of the day Tuesday, a person familiar with the situation told Deadline. The source also said the ESPN cuts are nowhere near the scale of the 2023 layoffs, which saw a number of recognizable on-air names depart amid a cost-savings effort steered by former Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Ravech had been at ESPN since 1993. Before taking the lead MLB play-by-play spot, he established himself as a SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight anchor.
Watch on Deadline
Clark, who played for 13 seasons in the NFL, joined ESPN in 2015. He was involved in an on-air dust-up with colleague Peter Schrager last year, later apologizing for criticizing Schrager’s “non-player” analysis of the Dallas Cowboys. According to reports in The Athletic and other outlets, Clark was notified during Monday’s episode of NFL Live that he was part of the layoffs. He did not appear on the remainder of the program.
The NFL and ESPN closed their transaction in February, with the league taking a 10% stake in ESPN in exchange for ESPN gaining control of media properties including the NFL Network. The deal valued ESPN at $30 billion, according to an SEC filing.
In order to eliminate duplication and achieve cost savings, many of the operations of ESPN and the NFL Network have been combined.
For the past few quarters, ESPN has been its own division within Disney. While the company continues to control a top-tier collection of rights and in February will broadcast its first Super Bowl along with broadcast sibling ABC, the economics of its business remain challenging. As rights costs continue to rise, the number of pay-TV subscribers is decreasing. ESPN responded to the cord-cutting trend a year ago by launching a new eponymous streaming service.
Here is Pitaro’s full memo:
Team:
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.
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.
Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.
Jimmy
