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ESPN announced today that it is laying off about 150 behind-the-scenes employees. On-air talent was originally expected to be included as well, but apparently the sports network will instead let the contracts of high-profile personalities expire as they hit their end date through the next year.
This is the second time in 2017 that Bristol, Connecticut-based sports channel issued pink slips. In April, ESPN — which is still drowning in red ink and dragging down parent company Disney — let go about 100 employees, many of whom were familiar public-facing names, including on-air anchors, commentators, and website writers, and is still cutting severance checks to many of them on multi-year deals whose contracts haven’t officially expired. In the summer of 2013, the Bristol, Connecticut-based network jettisoned hundreds of production support staff, as it did again in October 2015.
ESPN President John Skipper issued a statement about the layoffs this morning.