For the past couple of months, it’s been reported that Disney has ordered ESPN to cut significant dollars from its budget, as the cord-cutting trend has cost the network millions of subscribers. The figures mentioned for cuts have been $100 million from next year’s expenses and $200 million from ESPN’s overall budget by 2017.
Thus far, ESPN president John Skipper has trimmed the company’s payroll by cutting loose high-priced talent such as Bill Simmons, Keith Olbermann and Colin Cowherd (with Jason Whitlock reportedly soon to follow). But eventually, the cuts had to go deeper and it appears that fateful time has arrived.
According to The Big Lead‘s Jason McIntyre, multiple sources have informed him that ESPN will be laying off hundreds of employees in the months to come. The number quoted to McIntyre was “200 to 300,” and represent the first layoffs the network has had to implement since 2013.
“ESPN has historically embraced evolving technology to smartly navigate our business,” an ESPN spokesperson told The Big Lead. “Any organizational changes will be announced directly to our employees if and when appropriate.”
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