ESPN Layoffs

[tachyonbb]

ESPN has gone from 100.7 million subscribers to 87 million and the numbers continue to drop. This fall they lost 7,000 subscribers a day during a time when they usually pick up due to football. They pay the NFL almost 2 billion a year and have 5 years still on their contract. With NFL ratings down double digits advertisers are sure to balk at paying premium rates. They pay the NBA 1.3 billion a year and have 8 years to go. They pay MLB 700 million a year and have 4 years to go. MLB will have difficulty negotiating a new deal as the bloom is off the rose on sports programming. It is estimated that they pay $470 million for the college football playoffs. Cord cutting, politics, over saturation, bad programming are all creating the perfect storm. They are still making money but will not be the cash cow for Disney moving forward. It is estimated that if current trends continue they will start losing money in 3-4 years.

 

[manning]

ESPN has gone from 100.7 million subscribers to 87 million and the numbers continue to drop. This fall they lost 7,000 subscribers a day during a time when they usually pick up due to football. They pay the NFL almost 2 billion a year and have 5 years still on their contract. With NFL ratings down double digits advertisers are sure to balk at paying premium rates. They pay the NBA 1.3 billion a year and have 8 years to go. They pay MLB 700 million a year and have 4 years to go. MLB will have difficulty negotiating a new deal as the bloom is off the rose on sports programming. It is estimated that they pay $470 million for the college football playoffs. Cord cutting, politics, over saturation, bad programming are all creating the perfect storm. They are still making money but will not be the cash cow for Disney moving forward. It is estimated that if current trends continue they will start losing money in 3-4 years.

Disney won't/can't sell ESPN?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Disney won't/can't sell ESPN?

You want to sell something that's collapsing under its own debt?

If you kick in some magic beans...you can be the GM of the New York Yankees.

 

[tachyonbb]

Nobody wants to buy ESPN. Disney owns 80% and Hearst 20%. Hearst has been shopping their 20% for a while with no takers. They are locked into long term contracts which over pay for sports programming. They pay 3 million a year for S. Smith who has terrible ratings. They do have a solid pool of talent on the technical side of the equation.

 

[kandb]

Good, hope ESPN goes under and shame on you Disney for being any part of ESPN. They are despicable.

 

[kandb]

ESPN should of just reported sports and kept everything else and THEIR own opinions about other things off of their agenda. Just report sports news/scores. Is that so hard?

 

[rteetz]

ESPN should of just reported sports and kept everything else and THEIR own opinions about other things off of their agenda. Just report sports news/scores. Is that so hard?

I don’t think any sports network reports specifically sports news and scores. They all have opinionated type talk shows.

 

[Lee Matthews]

So unless they turn it around, what’s their options? Lapse each contract until there’s none left and liquidate what’s left?

 

[umichigan10]

So unless they turn it around, what’s their options? Lapse each contract until there’s none left and liquidate what’s left?

I mean I think they’re still viable because people still watch sports. But they need to rethink their show structures and understand they don’t own the market anymore like they used to, and frankly never will

 

[dreiwhit]

So unless they turn it around, what’s their options? Lapse each contract until there’s none left and liquidate what’s left?

IMHO, you can only go so far by laying off employees. At some point, the law of diminishing returns will kick in. They may go to more of a contractor-type relationship, where they hire broadcast commentators for the season or a few games. I've heard rumblings that is what they may be doing soon for some sports they broadcast.

I'm making a really wild guess, but I suspect they will not renew some of the more expensive contracts and will pick up other sports that may not have the viewership of NFL, NBA, or MLB. I'm guessing they'll probably keep college football. They may try to go their own paid streaming service, but I still think that unique services won't be the attraction that many think they will be.

My suggestion to ESPN would be to get rid of the talking heads, and keep politics out of their programming. The problem with mixing in politics is that in this divisive political age, if you bring up politics, you're going to alienate or anger some viewers. No sports network needs that kind of trouble.

 

[LSLS]

The politics thing is overblown. Guys do it on every sports network and other networks are picking these people up getting cut. I would buy the idea that they try to create drama just for drama sake though.

 

[umichigan10]

The politics thing is overblown. Guys do it on every sports network and other networks are picking these people up getting cut. I would buy the idea that they try to create drama just for drama sake though.

Max Kellermans “outrage” skills on first take are awful. At least Stephen A is a good actor (or maybe he’s really upset)

 

[HuskieJohn]

Apparently it does for Fox though as they have Skip Bayless...

Reruns of My Little Pony, during the same time slot, get better ratings than Skip Bayless's show.

 

[maltdizzy]

All the objective polling and research have shown politics have played a minor part in the ratings drop of the ESPN, NFL and sports in general (roughly 2% of total viewership; though that's still millions of people). That's not to say the rest like any politics, just that it's not making them turn the channel. Most of viewership loss is attributed to cost and diminished quality of play/on-field product.

This issue, as noted, was ESPN paid way above market rate for their programming (even before the sports market went bust). Combined with other business practices, by Disney any other major cable broadcasters, to drive up subscriber fees, it created an expensive environment that has lead to cord cutting. And we can't ignore the growth of the internet content and editorial sites which has over-saturated the market.

 

[Killer Fish]

The cancellation of Batstool Van Talk was absurd......they claimed that they thought that they could do the show without relating it to the barstool brand....

THE NAME WAS BARSTOOL VAN TALK....unreal....ESPN is a joke.

 

[rteetz]

The cancellation of Batstool Van Talk was absurd......they claimed that they thought that they could do the show without relating it to the barstool brand....

THE NAME WAS BARSTOOL VAN TALK....unreal....ESPN is a joke.

There was more to that than Barstool and ESPN being related.

 

[bladiator]

They pay 3 million a year for S. Smith

You could have stopped here and it is still a tragedy.

 

[umichigan10]

You could have stopped here and it is still a tragedy.

As someone with a degree in the field and struggling to find a job, that’s such a depressing statistic

 

[Nigel Channing]

ESPN has gone from 100.7 million subscribers to 87 million and the numbers continue to drop. This fall they lost 7,000 subscribers a day during a time when they usually pick up due to football. They pay the NFL almost 2 billion a year and have 5 years still on their contract. With NFL ratings down double digits advertisers are sure to balk at paying premium rates. They pay the NBA 1.3 billion a year and have 8 years to go. They pay MLB 700 million a year and have 4 years to go. MLB will have difficulty negotiating a new deal as the bloom is off the rose on sports programming. It is estimated that they pay $470 million for the college football playoffs. Cord cutting, politics, over saturation, bad programming are all creating the perfect storm. They are still making money but will not be the cash cow for Disney moving forward. It is estimated that if current trends continue they will start losing money in 3-4 years.

In addition to the terrible contracts, there are also a thousand channels and a dozen streaming services with more to come.

 

[JaxDad]

I found these articles interesting...

Why ESPN Could Abandon NFL Football
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-espn-could-abandon-nfl-football-guest-column-1052792

ESPN Can’t Afford Monday Night Football Any More
https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/espn-cant-afford-monday-night-football/