ESPN is making a fresh round of layoffs, with most of the job cuts tied to its takeover of NFL Network operations. Among the departures are two familiar on-air personalities: longtime baseball voice Karl Ravech and NFL analyst Ryan Clark.
The NFL Deal Behind The Cuts
The restructuring traces back to February, when the NFL took a 10 percent stake in ESPN as part of a landmark deal that folded NFL Network and NFL RedZone into ESPN’s operations. Combining two sports media organizations of that size inevitably creates overlapping roles, and the bill for that consolidation is now coming due. In a memo to staff, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the company had made difficult decisions about job impacts tied to the integration, with employees across other parts of the company also being notified this week. According to Variety, the company has not disclosed how many employees are affected by this round of cuts.
Deadline reports that Ravech and Clark are among those departing. Ravech, who joined ESPN all the way back in 1993, has been one of the network’s signature baseball voices for decades, anchoring Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter before taking over the lead Sunday Night Baseball booth, along with College World Series coverage. Clark, who played 13 NFL seasons before joining the network in 2015, became one of ESPN’s most visible football analysts, and reports indicate he was informed of the decision during Monday’s episode of NFL Live. Losing both in a single round underscores that these layoffs reach well beyond back-office consolidation.
A Transformative Year For ESPN
The cuts land in the middle of an enormously consequential stretch for Disney’s sports division. Between the launch of its direct-to-consumer streaming service, the NFL equity deal, preparations for the network’s first Super Bowl broadcast, and a steady push into new audiences with projects like the Disney Junior and ESPN sports shorts collaboration, the network is reshaping itself faster than at any point in its history. Integration savings were always part of the NFL Network math, but the human cost of that math became concrete this week.
ESPN has not announced whether additional rounds of cuts are expected as the NFL Network integration continues. We will update as more details on the restructuring emerge.
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