ESPN may dub itself as the "Worldwide Leader in Sports," but that reach is about to be trimmed at the expense of hundreds of employees.
Disney has ordered ESPN to reduce its budget by $100 million for 2016 and $200 million for 2017 and in order to do so, it will cost 200-300 employees their jobs, according to The Big Lead. It will mark the first layoffs by the company since 2013 and ESPN has already taken cost-cutting measures by parting ways with high-priced talent such as Bill Simmons, Keith Olbermann and Colin Cowherd.
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The company also plans to implement other changes to its programming as a way of cutting out some of its expenses.
"We have already begun a series of strategic enhancements, including 'SportsCenter on the Road,' the launch of Scott Van Pelt's show, additional live hours on weekend mornings and, starting in February, live shows from 7 to 9 a.m. ET," ESPN said in a statement issued to The Big Lead. "'SportsCenter' will present regular live updates on TV from 1:30 to 6 p.m. each weekday, and will be in position to break into network coverage when news developments warrant."
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There are multiple reasons that ESPN is starting to falter, and a lot of it has to do with the competition. Here are three likely reasons the network is wavering.
1) The Rise Of Fox
Fox created Fox Sports 1 in August 2013, joining ESPN as an all-sports channel and increasing the competition for a landscape the latter network once dominated. In addition, FS1 caters to many audiences, with focus on the MLB, soccer, college football and basketball, MMA and motor sports, such as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
2) Major Sports Networks
ESPN also took a hit when the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL all launched their own networks to compete with "SportsCenter," which tries to cover all of the major sports, but could never do the in-depth analyzing that a network solely dedicated to each one could do.
The NBA launched NBA TV in 1999 to get the ball rolling, and the NFL followed suit with its own network in 2003. The NHL came next by launching its personal channel in 2007 and then the MLB came through with its network in 2009. With these stations showing original program and analyzing every team and every game, it really hurt ESPN, especially with the network being criticized by a lot of viewers for catering to some sports more than others.
3) Regional Sports Networks
While sporting leagues having their own networks also took away from ESPN, the fact that most teams have their own stations was another big hit. In New York, the Yankees have the YES Network, which launched in 2002, and the Mets have SNY, which hit the airwaves in 2006. Boston has NESN and other regional sports network have cropped up all over the country, hindering the necessity of watching ESPN and having fans wade through a bunch of storylines until finally getting some news on the teams they support.
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