With 74 days to go before Disney’s fiscal year wraps and on the heels of the closure of its $3 billion acquisition of NFL Network, ESPN is executing its first major round of layoffs since 2023.
In a memo to staffers, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Tuesday confirmed that while “most of the job impacts are tied to the [NFL Network] acquisition,” a number of employees that are unaffiliated with the recently onboarded unit are also being let go.
ESPN has not provided guidance as to how many people would be out of a job when this latest culling has been completed, although at least eight on-air talents have been laid off thus far. Among the familiar faces who will no longer be suiting up for ESPN include NFL analyst Ryan Clark and MLB play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech, a 33-year Bristol veteran.
Ravech, who’d served as the lead mic on Sunday Night Baseball until ESPN punted that element of its MLB package to NBC in the spring, was informed of Pitaro’s decision just hours after calling the network’s telecast of Monday night’s Dodgers-Phillies game.
Clark’s ouster, meanwhile, was botched, as a leak left ESPN brass scrambling to inform the former Steelers safety that he was being released Monday during an NFL Live commercial break. Also exiting are NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, NFLN analyst Charles Davis and First Take contributor Cam Newton.
