Sports giant ESPN is looking to slow the growth of talent salaries with an eye toward saving millions of dollars in coming years, sources tell Sporting News.
The belt-tightening is expected to impact the 900-plus anchors, analysts, hosts, reporters and other so-called "front-facing" talent who appear across ESPN's multiple TV, radio and digital platforms. As part of its business-as-usual approach, ESPN is looking at all costs so it can reinvest savings into new projects, such as the ESPN+ platform and "Daily Wager" sports gambling show on ESPNews.
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However, ESPN is not planning any more talent layoffs, sources said. Instead, new president Jimmy Pitaro is looking to rein in talent costs by slowing the rate of salary increases. ESPN had three painful layoffs from 2015-17 that cost 500 employees their jobs, including 100 on-air personalities such as Trent Dilfer, Jay Crawford, Britt McHenry and John Clayton.
Meanwhile, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" is also saving money by quietly letting contracts expire for on-air talent — like Charles Woodson of "Sunday NFL Countdown" — who don't fit into future plans.
"They're looking to slow the growth rate of talent costs," said one source with knowledge of ESPN's internal planning discussions. "It shouldn't panic talent or their agents. But it's still a slowdown."
The New York Post was first to report ESPN's plans Tuesday. ESPN declined comment.
The sports media world has seen a big increase in talent salaries over the past five years. After former ESPN executive Jamie Horowitz recruited ESPN stars such as Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock to join him at rival FS1, ESPN fought back by giving many of its talent big raises and recruiting expensive, outside stars like Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo Sports.
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James Andrew Miller, author of "Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN," said on Richard Deitsch's sports media podcast that some "SportsCenter" anchors were earning as much as $1.5 million to $3 million a year.
Some of those same ESPN talkers, anchors or insiders who got big paydays by being in the right place at the right time a few years ago could now find their annual salary increases much smaller, or even flat. In other words, some salaries may continue to increase — just not at the breakneck pace of 2015-16.
"The top people will be extremely well taken care of. The people in the middle are a little stuck because they could be expendable," another source told SN. "They have 20 or 30 people making seven figures or more. ... But I might worry if I was a mid-level host making mid to high six figures — and I don’t have a niche any more."
As Andrew Marchand wrote in the Post: "Under current ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro, the high-earning top performers, who can directly point to ratings — such as Scott Van Pelt, Stephen A. Smith and Dan Le Batard — will still get paid, but big earners who aren’t producing will be scrutinized more heavily and could be in trouble."
Under Pitaro, ESPN is on the comeback trail, repairing its previously fractured relationship with the NFL and posting its strongest "Monday Night Football" ratings in years.
Said another source: "If I'm Jimmy Pitaro, I don’t want layoffs on my hands. But I’m damn sure fine with some rate adjustments. They're making offers, but they're modifying the price points. They're paying what are, finally, market prices."
Where could the money go? Start with Peyton Manning. ESPN is reportedly courting Manning to replace Jason Witten as lead analyst on "Monday Night Football." Pitaro and content czar Connor Schell made a pilgrimage to Denver to make their pitch to Manning in person, reported Marisa Guthrie of The Hollywood Reporter.
But does Manning need TV as much as TV needs him? He's financially independent after making $248.7 million in salary alone during his 18-year career, according to Spotrac. Manning's more likely to sit in an owner's box than a broadcast booth in the future.
One source thinks Manning is playing hard to get with ESPN and Fox to keep his name in NFL circles.
The next round of the salary wars is also heating up over at CBS Sports. Tony Romo's representatives are looking for a record $10 million a year for him to remain as the Tiffany network's No. 1 NFL analyst for 2020 and beyond.
The popular, engaging Romo and all-world Jim Nantz make up an announcing "Dream Team" at CBS. The most likely scenario is still that the former Cowboys quarterback extends his deal with the Tiffany Network, which expires after the 2019 season.
But if the 38-year-old Romo does hit the open market, look for him to draw multiple, big money offers from ESPN and Fox as well as the NFL's streaming partner Amazon and startup football leagues like the Alliance of American Football and Vince McMahon's reborn XFL.
Romo's also getting feelers from the NFL and Hollywood. Given his growing business interests, there's also a chance the young father and husband walks away from TV, at least for a few years.
