Wide World of Women

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post was the first to report the list of familiar on-air talent in this being the third round layoffs from the Disney owned company.

Around 20 people that we were used to seeing and hearing are seeing their jobs chopped as The Worldwide Leader continues its' sad chapter of no longer being watchable outside of the live sports they cover.

"As part of the un-bylined internal network memo published Friday, ESPN, in part, wrote, “In order to identify additional cost savings, ESPN determined it necessary to turn the cost management focus to public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun. This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead. It’s important for you to know that these are difficult decisions, involving individuals who have had tremendous impact on our company. They are based more on overall efficiency than merit, and we believe they will help us meet our financial targets and ensure future growth. Out of respect to all involved, we don’t plan on releasing a complete list of names.”

IMHO, all this means is that Disney has put immense pressure on ESPN to cut costs, and the thought from management is that cutting high-profile salaries via layoffs or not re-signing talent (which is going to happen over the next six months) will save many jobs behind the scenes.

Among the names previously laid off:

Chris Chelios, Hockey Hall of Famer and was part of the NHL studio show alongside Steve Levy and Mark Messier

Neil Everett, last Friday night was with SportsCenter since 2000--mostly alongside Stan Verett late nights in Los Angeles

Among the talent fired today, June 30:

Suzy Kolber, started at ESPN in 1993 and was part of the launch of ESPN2 in 1996 and as a SportsCenter anchor among many positions. After three years working for Fox, she returned in 1999 and for 27 years is best known for hosting "Monday Night Countdown" alongside Super Bowl XXIX MVP Steve Young--who also lost his job
Matt Hasselbeck, analyst on "NFL Sunday Morning Countdown".

Ashley Brewer, SC Los Angeles late night anchor since September 2020, this after arriving at ESPN earlier in the year.

Jeff Van Gundy, 17 year NBA analyst (a major head scratcher among passionate NBA fans), who worked alongside Mark Johnson and Naismith Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Breen for the last 15 NBA Finals--this following a coaching career with the New York Knicks and later the Houston Rockets.

Jalen Rose, ESPN since coming to ESPN in 2007 – college basketball analyst, NBA analyst, Jalen & Jacoby host, and Get Up star. He had most recently been a part of ESPN’s main NBA Countdown set

Max Kellerman and Keyshawn Johnson from the short lived weekday morning radio show after the sad end of "Golic and Wingo" in 2020. Jay Williams on the other end has his contract expiring at the end of the summer, his fate remaining with The Worldwide Leader is still a question mark.

Todd McShay, rose to prominence as a foil and partner for Mel Kiper in ESPN’s ever-expanding NFL Draft coverage and also was a college football sideline reporter. Arrived at ESPN in 2006 as part of Scouts Inc., where he served as director of college football scouting.

LaPhonso Ellis, popular college basketball game and studio analyst since 2009, was a part of "College GameDay" in 2019 working alongside Rece Davis, Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg

Jordan Cornette, one-time captain at Notre Dame under Mike Brey, arrived at ESPN in 2016 and was a college basketball analyst and host, mostly on the ACC Network. He also hosted Gameday on ESPN Radio for three hours on weekend afternoons with his wife Shae Peppler Cornette.

Jason Fitz, one time former musician from The Band Perry had been featured on ESPN Radio with multiple partners both regionally and nationally (namely with Sarah Spain) since 2016. Just this year he was paired with former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas on the ESPN Radio weekday lineup.

Joon Lee, baseball writer and host for "Baseball Tonight Live" (their streaming pregame show) and occasionally appeared on the Baseball Tonight podcast hosted by Buster Olney He was instrumental in the network’s coverage of the KBO during the early months of the 2020 COVID pandemic.

Marchand also noted in his initial column on Friday morning:
"Not everyone who will be let go will make more than a million bucks per year. ESPN will also signal to those with contracts coming up that it plans to be tougher in negotiations."

More updates to come.

David Pollack, started in 2009 and joined "College GameDay" in 2011, Pollack was a major figure in ESPN’s college football coverage both in the booth and the studio.

Talk about some interesting timing:

For Ashley Brewer, she is getting married next week.
At least, she will have all of the time she needs to prepare for her big day.
The grass can be greener on the other side, as so they say.

Dan Patrick spoke to Neil Everett about this sad story on his show and the fact that SportsCenter as we knew is slowly disappearing:
https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/dan-patrick-cant-imagine-difficult-sportscenter.html

NBA fans are familiar with Nick Friedell, sometimes called Nicky, going back to his time covering the Chicago Bulls for ESPN 1000 AM as far back as 2009.

For almost a decade, he was a founding member of the ESPNChicago.com web team, and was also a regular contributor to ESPN Radio. Friedell left the Bulls and moved to the Bay Area in 2018 to cover the NBA nationally and in my opinion, did an excellent job. I am sure he will have plenty of jobs open in many NBA circles.

Sad that Kolber after nearly 30 years got the boot, you're thinking if one is there for that long, they should have the option to retire. I'm guessing either Laura Rutledge or Mrs. Buck replaces Kolber. I'm also sad Ashley Brewer is gone as well. I hope FS1 or NFL Network hires her. I'm going to predict that Shae Cornette also leaves one way or another and that her and her husband Jordan go back to Chicago. Chelios will more than likely join the Blackhawks team and join his daughter who works for the team's broadcast team.

I wouldn't be surprised if FS1 hired Ashley.

I think Shae will stay at ESPN which she or Elle Duncan could replace Sage Steele for 12pm SportsCenter spot amid her lawsuit with the network.

As for Ashley, I would see her join CBS Sports and/or Entertainment Tonight as new host.

About Laura Rutledge and Michelle Beisner, they're best options to replace Suzy on Monday Night Countdown. Laura could do three shows w/ NFL Live and SEC Nation unless someone replace her on SEC Nation like Alyssa Lang or Marty Smith in that role.

Keyshawn Johnson is rumored to be taking over Sterling Sharpe's role alongside Skip Bayless on "Speak For Yourself", the FS1 debate show.

At least, he will be right at home in L.A. I could also see him potentially in some role for Fox during the college football season. I say this because in exactly one year, his Trojans will join their inner city rivals in UCLA making the huge leap from the Pac-12 to the traditional academics and athletically rich tradition that is the Big Ten. In other words, he will be fine.

It's Shannon not Sterling though Sterling was a broadcaster and a good pass catcher himself. I rather see Shady McCoy or Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson not Meshawn.

I don’t see one game-changing name on that list.

Hate to sound harsh, but whatever ratings they had will likely remain exactly the same with new people in place.

They could probably get rid of another 25 people you’ve heard of and not miss a beat.

All those laid-off people have been overpaid for years.
None of them ever moved the needle.

Thank you for correcting me, hanley.
It was a very long Friday, and by the last few points--I was literally running on virtual fumes with all of the sad updates.

Espn doesn’t care. They know people will watch no matter what!

I could see Ashley Brewer joining The Herd.

Your knowledge of all these people is impressive

And even if they don’t watch, at least you’ll be paying less for “talent”

That would be something especially since she looks like Kristine Leahy.

Two more names were mentioned by Front Office Sports that was interpreted as simply their contracts were not being renewed, as opposed to a flat-out layoff:

Doug Kezirian, "Daily Wager" host and sports betting insider
Andre Ward, Boxing analyst who also is a part-time actor

Front Office Sports also mentioned on Sunday that Mina Kimes might succeed Suzy Kolber as host of "Monday Night Countdown." Of course, she is also being sought after by Dan Lebatard's podcast and The Ringer--both of those platforms would be quite a big get, in the words of Andrew Marchand from the New York Post.

Something to watch for in the days and weeks to come.

Monday afternoon had Gene Wojciechowski join the nearly 20 on-air talent exit the Worldwide Leader.

"Woj" was mostly seen on college football and giving the occasional essay, ala what Jimmy Roberts did prior to going to NBC.

Also on the possible layoff chopping block is one Stephen A. Smith.
Yes, you read that right--he said it himself on his podcast:

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/stephen-a-smith-addresses-layoffs-i-could-be-next.html

Very interesting he said this. In that same segment, he gave a shout-out to Jalen Rose, Jeff Van Gundy, Neil Everett, Ashley Brewer, and especially Max Kellerman--his one time sparring partner on "First Take."

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/stephen-a-smith-max-kellerman-layoff-not-happy-gone.html

If some of you are wondering who might be next, since the layoffs are still ongoing--these names I am thinking about usually don't get too much camera time, but every news report I have read online has said that they are still slashing payroll right and left.

I broke it down by sport if you are curious about it. Again, I am not an insider--it's just something that my mind was thinking who might be next:

NFL:
Rex Ryan
Booger McFarland
Laura Rutledge--largely because we hear the common story of "the woman was on maternity leave, but upon her return she found out that she lost her job" or some similar lines.
Dianna Russini
Ed Werder--already a casualty from a prior layoff, only covers the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL Draft

College football:
With Pat McAfee in the fold, is this the last stand for one Lee Corso? I could only imagine is McAfee could wear that infamous headgear while the fans and cheerleaders all go nuts at the campus where the show airs every Saturday morning during the fall

MLB:
Jessica Mendoza--Has plenty of other inside interests in both baseball and softball

College basketball:
Sean Farnham--does part time work throughout the regular season, mostly spending time covering the Pac-12 and the West Coast Conference (WCC)
Fran Fraschilla--spending more times with running camps and other special projects, so he has a full plate
Seth Greenberg--former great coach at Virginia Tech, a brilliant basketball mind--but like the departed LaPhonso Ellis, will there be a seat at the desk if and only if Tom Crean, one time coach at Indiana and Marquette could be back in?

SportsCenter:
Separate story with Sage Steele, with her legal battles over certain things she said in the past about not getting the COVID vaccine, among such degrading comments. The website Awful Announcing if anyone wants to check out those lengthy articles.

Otherwise, SVP is safe and Stanford Steve should be sticking around. Everyone else in the other time slots is TBD, with an outside chance we may get to see a bit more of Linda Cohn with the sad departures of Neil Everett and Ashley Brewer in Los Angeles.

That's all I know at this time.

I am not an insider--it's just something that my mind was thinking who might be next or who's likely safe:

NFL:
Rex Ryan
Booger McFarland--possible
Laura Rutledge--she'll likely be safe just in time for football season and she or Mina Kimes or Michelle Beisner could replace Suzy Kolber for Monday Night Countdown hosting gig.
Dianna Russini--she'll stick around as well probably covers the Tennessee Titans and any NFL games.
Ed Werder--already a casualty from a prior layoff, only covers the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL Draft and any of the big games.

College Football:
With Pat McAfee in the fold, is this the last stand for one Lee Corso? I could only imagine is McAfee could wear that infamous headgear while the fans and cheerleaders all go nuts at the campus where the show airs every Saturday morning during the fall. Also, is this the swan song for Holly Rowe? Not likely. Could Paul Finebaum join the Gameday team? Possible. As for Molly McGrath, they should promote her to Fowler/Herbstreit team, more airtime for Alyssa Lang on SEC Network side, and more Stormy Buonantony on Pac 12 After Dark depends on the outcome of the Pac 12 media rights.

MLB:
Jessica Mendoza--Has plenty of other inside interests in both baseball and softball.

College basketball:
Sean Farnham--does part time work throughout the regular season, mostly spending time covering the Pac-12 and the West Coast Conference (WCC). He'll likely safe.
Fran Fraschilla--spending more times with running camps and other special projects, so he has a full plate, he's also safe.
Seth Greenberg--former great coach at Virginia Tech, a brilliant basketball mind--but like the departed LaPhonso Ellis, will there be a seat at the desk if and only if Tom Crean, one time coach at Indiana and Marquette could be back in? Possible.

SportsCenter:
Separate story with Sage Steele, with her legal battles over certain things she said in the past about not getting the COVID vaccine, among such degrading comments. The website Awful Announcing if anyone wants to check out those lengthy articles. She could be on the way out sooner than later.

Otherwise, SVP is safe and Stanford Steve should be sticking around as well, same with Gary Striewski, Randy Scott, Nicole Briscoe, Kelsey Riggs, Shae Cornette, Elle Duncan, Hannah Storm, Kevin Negandhi, and Kevin Connors just to name a few. Everyone else in the other time slots is TBD, with a greater chance we get to see more of Riggs, Briscoe, and Cornette and with an outside chance we may get to see a bit more of Linda Cohn with the sad departures of Neil Everett and Ashley Brewer in Los Angeles.

That's all I know at this time right now.