ESPN Layoffs 300 Employees As COVID-19 Tanks Revenues
ESPN – The worldwide leader in mass firings. That should be their motto anyway. COVID-19 has hit the sports industry hard, and ESPN has suffered massive revenue losses. The company has announced a massive layoff that includes slashing 500 plus jobs.
“ESPN is slashing 500 jobs as cost pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic are accelerating the sports media company’s move into streaming.
The cuts, which include 300 layoffs, were revealed Thursday in a memo from Jimmy Pitaro, president of the Walt Disney Co.-owned unit. In addition to the layoffs, another 200 open positions will be eliminated, the company said. ESPN has more than 5,000 employees worldwide.
“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 said in the memo viewed by the Times. “The pandemic’s significant impact on our business clearly accelerated those forward-looking discussions.”
ESPN+ has 8.5 million subscribers. God knows why that many people have signed up for ESPN+, but here we are. The reality is ESPN wants to shift into streaming. The problem the company still makes a bulk of its revenue from cable and satellite operations.
In the coming days, we’re going to know which on air personalities got let go.
Sure, corona hit us all hard, but ESPN wouldn’t have this problem if people liked their product. We’re continually hearing stories of ESPN firing people or pulling in low ratings. When you sell your soul to the viewers that worship Stephen A Smith and First Take, this is what you get.
