ESPN’s chairman told the Bristol-based sports network’s staff on Tuesday that an unspecified number of layoffs are being made.
In a memo emailed to ESPN employees Tuesday morning, Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the layoffs are a result of efforts to integrate the NFL Network, which it acquired in January in a deal valued at $3 billion.
“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN,” Pitaro states in the memo. “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 (Tuesday).”
Pitaro wrote that while most of the jobs affected are “tied to the acquisition,” employees in other parts of the company will also be notified “that their positions have been impacted.”
The memo does not specify the number of positions being cut at either ESPN or NFL Network.
Pitaro added that ESPN is “committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition.”
A spokesperson for ESPN said the company will not comment beyond Pitaro’s memo.
This would be the latest round of job cuts for Bristol-based ESPN.
At the time the deal was finalized in January, ESPN said it acquired NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators, while the league received a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
With the deal, ESPN is now 72% owned by ABC Inc. — an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co. — 18% by Hearst and 10% by the NFL.
The announcement comes one day after ESPN fired NFL analyst Ryan Clark midshow. According to The Athletic, Clark was taping ESPN’s “NFL Live” on Monday when he was told he was being laid off. He reportedly did not finish the show.
Clark had joined ESPN in 2015 as an analyst following 13 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Athletic reported that the network said the decision was made to tell Clark during the show so he would not find out via social media instead.
Note: This article has been updated with information provided by ESPN.
