ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro Finally Speaks Out After Firing Ryan Clark, Tom Pelissero & Others
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro gave a clarification after the company announced another round of layoffs on Monday and Tuesday. The cuts affected several popular broadcasters as ESPN and Disney continue to reduce their workforce.
One of the biggest names affected was NFL analyst Ryan Clark, who reportedly lost his job on Monday while he was doing the show.
Also on Tuesday, longtime MLB broadcaster Karl Ravech, NFL insider Tom Pelissero, and Cam Newton were also reported to be among those laid off. Reports say more job cuts could still happen as ESPN continues to reorganize the company.
Pitaro Explains The Latest Job Cuts
Pitaro shared a company-wide memo that explained why ESPN made the latest staffing changes. According to the memo obtained by Awful Announcing, the company recently completed major work to integrate the NFL assets it acquired. Leaders then reviewed teams, resources, and the overall company structure before making decisions.
In the memo, Pitaro acknowledged the impact on employees and called the decisions difficult.
“Team: Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. 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 today.”
He also said most of the affected positions connected to the NFL asset integration. However, he confirmed that other departments across the company also faced job losses.
Pitaro stressed that ESPN plans to support employees through the transition.
“We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition. Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.”
While the company has already confirmed these high-profile departures, surely more names could be announced as the process goes through.
