ESPN went through another round of layoffs Tuesday, this time stemming from its purchase of the NFL Network.
The cuts targeted both on-air talent and behind-the-scenes employees, according to sources not authorized to speak publicly. The layoffs are part of wider cutbacks at Disney previewed in April by CEO Josh D’Amaro and a consolidation of employees at ESPN and the NFL Network.
In a note to staff Tuesday morning, ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro said the company was forced to “make some difficult decisions about job impacts” stemming from the merger, and that the moves were intended to “best position us for the future.” Employees were being notified Tuesday, Pitaro said.
“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,” Pitaro added.
ESPN declined to comment.
Karl Ravech, a veteran ESPNer who called the Phillies’ win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday night, was among those let go, first reported by The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.
Ravech had been with ESPN since 1993, covering baseball for more than three decades in a variety of roles, including as the voice of Sunday Night Baseball for four seasons. He had been slated to call the Little League World Series for ESPN next month.
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero was also reportedly among the cuts. He’s been with the network since 2017 and is one of the network’s top insiders, along with Ian Rapoport and Philly native Mike Garafolo.
Rapoport signed a multiyear contract with ESPN in April.
ESPN also parted ways with former Carolina Panthers quarterback and NFL MVP Cam Newton, as first reported by Outkick’s Bobby Burack. Newton has been a frequent guest on First Take with Stephen A. Smith during the NFL season.
Longtime NFL Network analyst Charles Davis, best known for calling NFL games on Fox and CBS, was also let go, according to The Athletic. This fall he’ll replace Gary Danielson as CBS’s lead college football analyst on Big Ten games alongside Brad Nessler.
Other ESPN staffers reportedly let go were veteran SportsCenter anchor David Lloyd, sports injury analyst Stephania Bell, and ex-NFL linebacker Bart Scott, who cohosted an ESPN radio show in New York City with one-time 94.1 WIP host Chris Carlin.
Boxing and MMA reporter Andreas Hale and staff writer Dan Hajducky both announced their own layoffs on social media.
“I’ve been here before. Change is constant, but the outcomes are uncertain,” Hale wrote.
Ryan Clark pulled from live show
Layoffs arrived early for Ryan Clark, the former NFL defender turned TV analyst who has been a star at ESPN for the past decade.
As first reported by The Athletic, Clark was taken off the air midway through NFL Live on Monday and informed he was being let go after reporters began inquiring about his status with the network.
In an Instagram post Tuesday morning, Clark described the incident as “madness.”
“My peace is with God, and my humility comes from within,” Clark wrote. “I’ll continue to build myself so the world can never strip me of what’s real.”
Clark joined ESPN in 2015 and has been a prominent personality across the network’s NFL programming and daytime shows, including Monday Night Countdown with former Eagles star Jason Kelce.
In 2024, Clark signed a three-year contract extension after going public with his dissatisfaction with the network
Stephen A. Smith reacts to cuts
Longtime ESPN personality and First Take host Stephen A. Smith called it a “rough day” at the network.
While several regulars from his show were among the cuts, the one-time Inquirer columnist and reporter was particularly irked by Clark’s ouster. Smith described him as “arguably the best NFL analyst in America.”
“The bosses know I’m not happy about this decision. I’ve made that very, very clear,” Smith said Tuesday afternoon on his SiriusXM show Straight Shooter, adding later in the show, “Was I asked what I thought, what my feeling were? Yes, I was. And of course I said we have to keep him.”
Smith also spent time outlining all the cutbacks ESPN has gone through dating back to May 2013. A lot of familiar names were forced out the door in the past decade-plus, including Jeff Van Gundy, Jayson Stark, Todd McShay, Zach Lowe, and Ed Werder.
“This ain’t the days when ESPN could just hire and hire and hire some more without ever having to let go or lay off anybody,” Smith said. “Those days are long gone.”
ESPN purchased NFL Network and NFL Media in February in a deal valued between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. As part of the deal, all NFL Network staffers and personalities became ESPN employees, and the league took a 10% stake in the network.
NFL Network isn’t going anywhere, and will still have original programming, including Good Morning Football, and will broadcast a handful of NFL games.
It’s the second round of layoffs at ESPN in recent months. In the spring, about 30 behind-the-scenes staffers were let go as part of companywide layoffs that reportedly impacted around 1,000 employees.
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