ESPN president John Skipper is closing in on a new deal with Walt Disney Co. that will keep him at the helm of the Worldwide Leader in Sports through 2021, sources tell Sporting News.
Skipper, 61, is said to be finalizing an extension of his current contract, which runs through 2018, according to Awful Announcing. He ascended to his current position, which includes the title of co-chairman of Disney Media Networks, on Jan. 1, 2012.
Ryan Glasspiegel of The Big Lead first reported that Disney had extended Skipper's contract through 2021.
ESPN declined to comment Tuesday night.
MORE: NFL TV numbers' decline infecting 'Sunday NFL Countdown'
Under Skipper's leadership, ESPN has built an industry-leading collection of live sports rights, including the NFL's "Monday Night Football," the NBA Finals (which it broadcasts on sister Disney network ABC), Major League Baseball game telecasts, the College Football Playoff, U.S. Open tennis and the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls.
Skipper's ESPN has overtaken former industry leader HBO Sports when it comes to award-winning sports documentaries. ESPN won its first Academy Award for the five-part "30 for 30" film "O.J.: Made in America." In a cutthroat business, Skipper has successfully raided competitors for talent, including Katie Nolan from Fox Sports and Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo Sports. ESPN is loaded with world-class reporters who drive the news cycle, ranging from Jeremy Schaap and Don Van Natta Jr. to Adam Schefter and Josina Anderson.
Sporting News named Skipper the third-most influential person in sports in 2016, behind only NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. SportsBusiness Journal named Skipper and Disney CEO Robert Iger the second-most powerful executives in sports, behind only Silver and ahead of Goodell.
At the same time, Skipper is facing far bigger challenges than predecessor George Bodenheimer.
Many experts believe Skipper and ESPN overpaid for NFL and NBA rights. ESPN pays the NFL $1.9 billion a year, more than any partner network, but has the worst game schedule. The network is paying out that cash while it continues to lose subscribers as more consumers cut the cable TV cord. The network has lost roughly 14 million homes in just six years, from a high of 100 million in 2011 to about 86 million now.
'30 FOR 30': Diamonds are forever, and so is Nature Boy in ESPN doc
Based on its current affiliate fee of $8 per subscriber per month, that means ESPN has lost more than $1 billion in affiliate revenue, according to SportsBusiness Journal. ESPN is expected to lay off another 100 on-air talent, writers and staffers in late November, following layoffs last spring of 100 ESPN personalities such as John Clayton, Britt McHenry and Trent Dilfer and 300 layoffs in 2015.
The network is also facing competition from newcomers such as FS1, which has recruited former ESPNers including Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock.
Next spring, ESPN will debut a new morning show, "Wake Up," starring Mike Greenberg, Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose and broadcasting from New York (7-10 a.m. ET). Executives inside the network's headquarters in Bristol, Conn., view the cast as the "Avengers," who will reclaim morning viewers lost to FS1's "First Things First" and "Undisputed" and NFL Network's "Good Morning Football."
MORE: What will Greeny do between shows?
Additionally, ESPN is a target of Republican President Donald Trump as part of the left vs. right culture wars. Stung by "SportsCenter" host Jemele Hill describing him as a "white supremacist," Trump lashed out at ESPN in a series of tweets, including these:
With Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have "tanked," in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017
ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
Iger, who's rumored to be interested in the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2020 presidential election, publicly backed Skipper's decision not to fire Hill for violating the network's social media policy. Skipper instead suspended Hill with pay, then issued new, more stringent social media guidelines designed to better keep ESPN talkers like Hill out of the political minefield.
Conservative critics such as Breitbart News claim ESPN is a liberal-leaning outfit that is more interested in political correctness than sports.
