ESPN Layoffs May Go Through 3 Rounds

BRISTOL, CT — Many ESPN employees are set to have their jobs slashed, and even elite on-air talent who get to keep their positions will face huge salary cuts, New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand speculated on his March of Ourand podcast Wednesday.

"I think there's going to be three rounds [of layoffs]," Marchand said, beginning with who he calls "normal people" and executives.

"ESPN is making choices," Marchand said, pointing toward the re-signing of Marcus Spears—who appears regularly on ESPN morning shows "Get Up!," "First Take," and its flagship NFL studio show, "NFL Live"—to a "new, lucrative four-year deal" of seven figures per year.

But not all on-air talent will be so lucky, Marchand believes.

"I do think they're going to go to some other people who make big numbers and say, 'Well, you can stay, but we're going to cut you in half,'" Marchand said. "People are going to have decisions to make on that. They might just end up leaving and getting paid their full contract—that's a tough decision to make, to have to work and make less or leave and make your full number. Where does that leave you going forward?"

Longtime commentator Stephen A. Smith announced back in March on his "K[no]w Mercy” podcast that ESPN is "going to have some cuts coming," with additional unnamed sources telling Front Office Sports that layoffs are in the works at the Bristol-based company.

The layoffs would come as part of wider job cuts at ESPN's parent company Disney, Business Insider reported, adding that Disney is planning on axing some 4,000 jobs in April.

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the restructuring of the company in February, with ESPN becoming a standalone division along with its theme parks and entertainment divisions.

Disney is set to slash 7,000 jobs from its workforce and cut $5.5 billion in costs, CNBC reported in February.

With 3,800 employees, ESPN ranked No.21 on a list of the state’s largest employers published by Hartford Business Journal in January.

Patch reached out to ESPN for comment.