ESPN was expected to let go of Karl Ravech, one of its most prominent on-air voices for more than three decades, and the NFL insider Tom Pelissero on Tuesday as part of its first round of layoffs since finalizing its acquisition of the NFL Network earlier this year, according to sources briefed on the moves.
Most of the dismissals are expected at NFL Network, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. ESPN purchased NFL Network as part of a series of agreements that gave the league a 10 percent stake in ESPN. ESPN has spent the past six months sorting out how to make all the pieces from its bases in Bristol and New York coordinate with NFL Network’s Los Angeles operation.
In an internal memo Tuesday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the network has “made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN.”
“While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted,” Pitaro said.
On Monday, ESPN laid off NFL analyst Ryan Clark as part of the cuts. ESPN declined further comment. When reached by phone on Tuesday morning, before Pitaro’s memo was sent, Ravech said he had yet to be told that he was being let go.
ESPN is also expected to sever ties with longtime SportsCenter stalwart David Lloyd, injury expert Stephania Bell and NFL Network analyst Charles Davis. News of Lloyd and Bell’s layoffs were first reported by Front Office Sports.
Ravech, 61, has been the lead play-by-play voice on ESPN’s Major League Baseball coverage, hosted “Baseball Tonight,” called college hoops and was a longtime “SportsCenter” anchor. Ravech, who joined the network in 1993, called Monday’s Phillies-Dodgers game in Philadelphia.
Tom Pelissero had been a staple on NFL Network programming and developed into one of its top insiders. (Todd Rosenberg / Getty Images)
On the NFL Network side, Pelissero has been a staple on the platform. With the combination of ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFLN’s Ian Rapoport, ESPN moved on from the plugged-in and well-compensated Pelissero.
ESPN’s parent company, Disney, is also expected to conduct a round of layoffs.
ESPN has had several rounds of layoffs since 2015. Before that, the network that once billed itself as “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” was considered the most idyllic place to work, as it had been immune to much of the rest of the media industry that crumbled with layoffs.
The network has retained quite a portfolio of events, including next February’s Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the College Football Playoff, and it is still arguably the top platform in sports. However, the ground beneath employees’ feet has become regularly shaky in Bristol.
Three years ago, ESPN laid off a slew of big-name on-air personalities, including Jeff Van Gundy, Keyshawn Johnson and Jalen Rose.
On Tuesday, Davis, Lloyd and Bell were all expected to suffer the same fate after long, distinguished careers at their networks. Davis, who has been a longtime draft analyst for NFL Network, remains at CBS, where he was elevated to the No. 1 college football analyst on Big Ten afternoon games. Davis had previously been on CBS’ No. 2 NFL crew until last season.
Lloyd has been a consummate professional at ESPN since 1997. While he never had his own signature moment, he was a fixture on “SportsCenter” throughout his tenure. Bell had been with ESPN for nearly 20 years, finding a niche as an injury expert, an innovative segment she embraced before the role became mainstream.
ESPN had planned to let Clark go on Tuesday but moved up its plan after receiving media inquiries on Monday. Clark was taken off of “NFL Live” Monday and told of his dismissal as ESPN felt it was better for him to hear it directly from an executive rather than reading it online.