Jimmy Pitaro acknowledged that layoffs will indeed hit ESPN today. Andrew Marchand of The New York Post obtained an internal memo from the network’s President to his staff. In it, he confirms that 300 employees will be laid off and 200 open positions will be effected as well.
“Prior to the pandemic, we had been deeply engaged in strategizing how best to position ESPN for future success amidst tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports,” Pitaro writes. “The pandemic’s significant impact on our business clearly accelerated those forward-looking discussions. In the short term, we enacted various steps like executive and talent salary reductions, furloughs and budget cuts, and we implemented innovative operations and production approaches, all in an effort to weather the COVID storm.”
Pitaro writes that ESPN has “reached an inflection point” and cannot ignore the realities of what it has to do in order to fall in line with the Walt Disney Company’s focus on its direct-to-consumer businesses. The boss writes that ESPN+ and other digital properties will get a renewed focus, while the company continues to figure out the best ways to present innovative television.
A reality that isn’t mentioned in the memo, but has been widely reported on, is Disney’s willingness to spend more money on play-by-play rights. The company is reportedly dedicated to doing what it needs to in order to secure ABC a spot in the Super Bowl broadcast rotation. It also needs to finalize a new deal for ESPN with Major League Baseball and has expressed interest in being a part of the NHL’s next round of media rights negotiations. Those factors likely play a role in ESPN’s need to free up some money.
The memo strikes a somber tone as Pitaro acknowledges what is about to happen in Bristol. “We are parting ways with some exceptional team members – some of whom have been here for a long time – and all of whom have made important contributions to ESPN.”
Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports also obtained a copy of the memo. He posted it in full on Twitter.
Outkick’s Bobby Burack was the first to report that layoffs at ESPN were looming. It will be the third round of staff reductions in the last five years. The previous two events, in 2015 and 2017 respectively, resulted in a combined 500 job losses.
