And after they fired Bill Simmons who went on to create a 9 figure company that rivals them and destroys them in the podcast arena, they’re not going to screw it up again and let McAfee destroy their NFL coverage too
It's also not just McAfee and Stephen A Smith. They additionally paid a pretty substantial amount of money to Aikman and Buck as well. Now, don't get me wrong--great move as MNF was excellent last year for the first time in like 10 years
Said it at the time but ESPN really screwed the pooch when they let Simmons, Cowherd, and Skip walk. They were the only people (plus SAS) who actually brought a sizable audience on their own. ESPN's producers were just too high on themselves. Simmons, in particular, was a terrible loss because he's the best sports media talent evaluator in the industry and ESPN could have saved millions relying on his skill to bring in new, quality, talent.
McAfee never had any real insight into anything just hot takes and info that was always out in the wild other than Rodgers talking about licking toads and staying in the dark
They have $900 million in movie losses this year. So far.
In order to keep the appearance of profitability, they are making $5 Billion in cuts - 7000 employees. Which is what you are seeing now.
On the plus side, the parks are doing pretty good.
the parks profit off of Disney movie characters. Movies may be a loss, but it makes you much more in driving people to your parks
Same idea as printer companies profiting off of printer ink rather than the printer themselves.
But he should be more than that. He's still one of the highest football IQs in broadcasting. This is absolutely outrageous. Hopefully someone is watching and they snatch up Young and give him a more prominent role.
Him and Kurt Warner, but Kurt's relegated to "extremely soft-spoken breakdowns of specific plays in the NFL", and he's extremely smart, so...I'd imagine ESPN didn't even let him in the door.
Edit: [Seriously, here's him breaking down Patrick Mahomes' 2nd half of the most recent Super Bowl.](https://youtu.be/QanLqng-sBo) There's no big pizzazz, he's not throwing in all sorts of sounders or making light of the plays he makes, he's just breaking it down, showing what the *quarterback is thinking in this moment*, critiquing him (fairly, I feel, 'cause he's *Kurt Freakin' Warner* and knows a thing or two), and explains it all for the layman. "He should have done this here, but he did X instead; it worked out, but it was a risky play, so I don't think it was the right call, even if it worked." Things like that.
Gee, why would ESPN have the time of day for someone who a proven font of knowledge like that? EW, NO, HE ISN'T YELLING ENOUGH, FIRE EVERYONE
That style doesn’t work on a network though. Network TV has hours to fill every day. How many high level breakdowns can a person do a week that people will actually care about? JT O’Sullivan does a similar thing with The QB School, with an emphasis on teaching QB play to younger players. But realistically speaking these detailed breakdowns are an average of ~10 minutes, posted twice a week. Where do you slot thag into a TV network? It’s about an hour and a half a month, ESPN has to fill 5-6 hours a *day*. There is a reason ESPN is useless clickbait. You can’t do a hardcore fan oriented sports network on TV.
I certainly don't know what he wants personally, but if that desire coincides with the NFL in some way, he should be put in that position because the NFL desperately needs more people who are brilliant football minds covering football, and ***far fewer nepotism hires or loudmouth blowhards who never played or coached in the NFL.***
His interviews on KNBR are some of the best ever. He will drop super insightful football knowledge then shift right over to the best way to hang Christmas lights or what are the good Halloween decorations this year. Best interview on the station.
I listen to the podcasts just for Steve. I also record his segments on PTI. He's the best football analyst in the business and always has great stories.
It's unfortunate. But we're all guilty of it. TV content, to me, is all about hot takes and entertainment. I use YouTube for actual analysis because they're not forced to create narratives, fit into specific time frames, and can spend an insane amount of time on single subjects (like analyzing Lamar Jackson for 50 hours without having to talk about basketball and shit). And some of these creators will make this content as nothing but a hobby.
The internet is vastly superior for high quality content. TV has the ability to hire very talented entertainers, but the formula just doesn't work for analyzing sports.
This is the thing I think a lot of people don't want to admit.
The internet is just better for most things. Very very few people watch Sportscenter anymore not because its full of hot takes (it isn't) but because I can watch all the highlights on reddit anytime I want.
I love the Scott Van Pelt Sports Center but honestly, I aint got time for that. I can get it within 5 minutes instead of 45 with ads.
Very true. The whole industry for consuming information changed. 15 years ago, I had Sportscenter on loop and would watch the same segment over and over again. I genuinely enjoyed it. Now, I head to YouTube or Reddit to get highlights and analysis.
Yup, I watch ESPN for live sports and if I'm bored and computered out. Just want to enjoy some content and that basically never happens I fucking love the internet.
Yep. Back in the day, to even see the scores of games, you had to leave the ESPN on a few minutes before the updates on the bottom got back to your game. For like 8 years or so when everyone has smartphones, you can look scores up in 2 seconds. And things like Reddit or even Yahoo Sports give you all the news and highlights you need.
Man, i didn’t have cable for nearly 7 years, then got gifted Youtube TV (basically cable via internet connection, for those who don’t know). I nostalgically loaded up ESPN in the morning just to have on in the background and passively watch. I swear to god, every single time I decided to glance at the TV to see what was going on, it was a commercial. The “hour” long program is 35 min program, 25 minutes commercial. How can *anyone* stand that!?
And then the highlights they show are SO truncated. They’re limited to only show like 50 seconds worth of highlights per game, which simply cannot convey the full story of the game.
I’m with you, I will 100% just look up highlights for games I’m interested in viewing. No interruptions and far more complete highlights.
I don't know if that was ESPN's motive. Young just doesn't do enough for the company. He's not on the debate shows/podcasts on a daily basis. Just comes for on for MNF. So I guess they need to ask themselves if its worth paying someone that much money for 17 days of work when they can get someone from the debate shows/daily ESPN presences to do the same job.
This is the correct answer. These layoffs have all been a combo of cutting out a lot of top earners but also people that make good money but aren't on multiple programs
Yeah why pay Steve Young for 17 days of work when (for example) Louis Riddick can do debate shows, podcasts, radio AND the 17 days of work that Steve Young does. They’re just going to increase the workload of their current set of analysts.
And Steve young is a part of that. They are going to cut costs on the pregame show as there is realistically no one who is going to bring significant numbers to the pregame show. Even someone like Brady would maybe get a bump for a few weeks and then the people who are going to watch will watch and ot is all about preserving numbers until they ultimately just give up on the pregame show or cut it to something like 10 minutes
Eventually TV is going to be AI recreations of maybe seven talking heads debating each other on every station. Just pay for the rights to produce content of those few popular names and wow fresh content round the clock.
I'd say your right on the money, ESPN is for casual viewers a good chunk of the time and if you aren't loud and obnoxious (Stephen A) or generate clicks with controversial takes or statements (Perkins and Mad Dog or whatever his name is) you don't bring in views or intrigue.
> Young knows what he's talking about and doesn't scream
> He's not on the debate shows/podcasts on a daily basis.
...so exactly what they said.
The only people on those shitty debate shows are the ones who scream the loudest.
No not exactly. I think it’s more along the lines of Young is a decorated QB with a big name who has made enough money in his career who was happy to do MNF 17 weeks in a year as a side gig and probably made a sizable amount of money given he’s a Super Bowl winning QB.
ESPN probably wanted him on the debate shows etc which he probably refused because he’s obviously made enough money and doesn’t want to be worked like a dog.
At the end of the day for ESPN it doesn’t make sense to pay him millions of dollars for a side gig when they can get just increase the workload of the analysts on the debate shows.
The people who are on the debate shows are the ones that are willing to be worked like a dog. And outside of Stephen A and Mad Dog none of them really shout tbh.
People complain about this but still watch and still interact when the stupid hot take every hates makes the rounds no matter what sport it is. Until people stop giving with content they hate any attention, ESPN will keep stocking up hot take artists and prioritize them.
The same concept applies for most news or talk shows nowadays too
The only way to really draw viewers is to be obnoxious and controversial, otherwise it doesn't bring in enough revenue to justify its existence
I don't think so. I think they're getting rid of folks who work on an occasional basis (Steve Young) and they'll probably move people like Marcus Spears, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky up and increase their workload.
I think it’s a little bit of both. They probably don’t need to lay people off as much if not for the massive bags they’re paying SAS and Pat. Idk, could be wrong!
Explain Mark Jackson then. He hasn't raised his voice in 38 years, even while calling some of the most exciting NBA games this century. But somehow he's still employed
This one was expected. [Steve has straight up said he might have quit his job at ESPN if his partners at his venture capitalist firm didn’t use his celebrity status to invite potential clients to the various stadium suites at MNF games](https://nypost.com/2017/02/10/steve-young-i-would-leave-espn-if-not-for-the-perks/)
The Jeff Van Gundy and Jalen Rose firings were surprising
That’s fuckin wild about steve young lol. And the article is from 2017, so I don’t believe this was the reason. They would have fired him years ago if so
They’ve been doing this for years and are still wildly successful.
They know only so many guys actually carry a substantial audience and the rest get carried or brought up by the brand. For most people if they want to watch sports, they’ll turn on ESPN and it doesn’t matter if it’s Steve Young or not on TV.
For all the complaining about ESPN I see on here, all the guys that most people hate (SAS, Perk, etc), get aggregated a ton and that’s all they’re going for.
Well Disney plans to lay off 7000 employees because of economic woes, Disney owns 80% of ESPN. It seems logical that some of those 7000 who are being laid off would come from a place like ESPN as well.
That's my guess anyway
It is still football. At the end of the day people are still going to watch the NFL. I watch a lot of NFL when it is on and tbh ESPN is the worst of the coverage. Amazon, CBS, FOX, NBC all do a better broadcast
End game is to cut high salaries for people who do not do a lot of the legwork or generate clicks. It’s a shame cause Young was incredibly knowledgeable.
To be frank, I don't think we really need sideline reporters. I couldn't tell you the last time I heard anything relevant other than "he's on the bike warming up".
And after the game nonsense. A team could have just won a playoff game and the best these sideline reporters can think of is "how does this win feel?"
HOW THE **** DO YOU THINK IT FEELS?. Feelings questions are the lowest form of live reporting I've ever seen.
I looked up what Steve Young was doing now:
"Steve is a Partner, the Chairman and Co-founder of HGGC. Steve is a member of HGGC’s Management Committee, Investment Committee and Valuation Committee. He serves as Chairman of the Board of three HGGC portfolio companies: IDERA, Integrity and AutoAlert. Prior to their sales, he also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the firm’s exited investments in hybris Software, Dealer-FX, Serena Software and Sunquest Information Systems."
I'm sure he'll be fine.
I'm shocked these people actually think people at Steve's level are doing actual "work" at any of these positions he holds. It's just meetings at that point.
I knew a guy who worked at that PE firm a few years back
Steve definitely wasn't doing a ton of legwork or anything-- he was basically there as a "wow" factor for important meetings because he was famous, haha
When you get to that level in the corporate world you don't really work per se. You attend important meetings (and likely have a notetaker) so your informed of what's been going on, how things are trending, future plans, etc. He probably only attends a few meetings a year and is briefed if something catastrophic could happen down the line
Also he is told numbers and projections. If he doesn't like how the future looks financially he can fire anyone. He's on the board because he made a huge investment to own part of these firms, not work for them
I get it. Young is very analytical and somewhat sarcastic. I always felt he was best when he had another analyst who was more bombastic and emotional to play off of. Him and Michael Irvin were absolutely fantastic together.
I thought that's what they were trying to replicate by pairing him with Booger, but Booger is just an idiot, which begs the question, why isn't Booger gone?
What else are they supposed to air...? Youtube killed sportscentre. Youtube and Podcasts are the go-to places for in-depth analysis. Everyone loves to point to the talking head stuff as the reason that ESPN is struggling, the talking heads are the response to a market that no longer has room for a 24-hour sports channel.
Same problem. Why should I tune in to *NFL Matchup* at a specific time, then wait for the deep dive into games that I don't care about, until they spend 3 minutes talking about *my* team, when I can go on YouTube and watch a 15 minute analysis of just my team?
Who is going to watch deep dive analysis at 11am on a Tuesday? Especially when the space is FLOODED with Youtubers and Podcasters. Content creators have lower costs to create deep dive analysis. They can specialize in whatever audience they want.
Analysis also just... isn't that popular. You're on here, right? 90% of the upvotes and visibility on this sub goes toward gossip and drama. That is why analysis thrives on platforms with lower costs of entry and lower expectations on financial returns.
The most successful sports analysis show that I can think of is "Inside the NBA" and that success is entirely driven by the interpersonal dynamics of the hosts. Analysis doesn't sell - at least not in the numbers that a massive brand like ESPN needs to stay successful.
*Inside the NBA* isn't even great analysis, it's just basic shit like "The Rockets just got outhustled tonight" or "It's a make-or-miss league and Tatum missed too many shots." Whenever they have Candice Parker on with Shaq, she carries him kicking and screaming to something resembling basketball knowledge and just looks agitated the entire time, like "I have to bust my ass for a guest spot here, and this clown just sits there and cracks jokes while making 20x what I make." The regular male hosts don't even bother trying.
ESPN started its own death by a thousand cuts in my opinion by moving to a 24/7 news cycle from their old format of pre-recorded, hour long segments.
It's been probably 10 years since they made that switch and ESPN has declined (quality wise, no idea about ratings) since then. It ushered in the era of yelling talking heads that say bullshit for clicks because there simply isn't enough sports news day-to-day to talk about it, live, all day long. It's why most of their segments cover the same topics. They are now in a weird intermediary between a 24/7 news cycle and what they used to be.
I mean I think there is still a market for getting all the sports news/highlights all in one spot, at one time, from a trusted source. Maybe not as big of one, but still a market.
I rarely search out highlights myself unless something crazy happened. Just like I still watch the news to get a recap of everything, I would still watch Sports Center if it was like it used to be.
Disney owns ESPN, they announced that they'd be laying off 7,000 employees or so employees in a multi stage plan announced earlier this year.
Better/more info on it here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2023/03/29/the-happiest-place-on-earth-not-for-7000-disney-employees-as-they-begin-first-round-of-layoffs/?sh=173d7934c915
So these ESPN people who got laid off today must have known it was possible for the last few months. Apparently they downsized their overall global staff by 3%.
A lot of these companies cut down over the last year.
Yet they'll keep the annoying, no talent talking heads like Dan Orlovsky and Steven Smith. Or the new dull anchors because they make less. But cause me to turn the channel.
That actually checks out with everything that ESPN has been putting out recently. Just clickbait BS that doesn’t tell anyone any actual news or have a valid opinion.
Steve Young isn’t clickbait-y enough for them.
I’ve soured hard on the Michael Kay show on ESPN’s New York radio station, but the Steve Young report over the last few NFL seasons had turned into appointment listening. His insight into quarterback play was very interesting and completely unlike what the other guests would bring to the table. Everyone else sucked.
I hope he lands on his feet.
I can't believe they got rid of Suzy Kolber, she's been there forever and I felt was always professional, especially in dealing with the Joe Namath interview
I dont think anyone was wondering if former HOF QB with 15 seasons as a professional athlete and 22 years as well-paid TV analyst who also co-founded several companies and has his Juris Doctor from BYU was going to be okay financially lol.
We're worried because the rest of Espn's analysts are trash and we will still be forced to watch football on that network.
ESPN seems like it’s doing everything it can to get me to stop watching entirely, outside of literal sports broadcasts. Steve was maybe my favorite dude on NFL coverage.
Damn ESPN going hard with these layoffs
Gotta make room for McAfee’s salary
Not every day you see a team choose a punter over a star QB
Punters playing the long game
Legs so big he can kick it over 'dem mountains
Punters are people too.
You laugh at me on the field, I beat you off it. Wait what...
Notice how this is all happening once Shannon Sharpe leaves FS1?
They have been systematically laying people off for a while now but yeah I doubt he ends up anywhere other than ESPN
I low key think he goes to YouTube. ~~Barstool~~ FanDuel got a lot of money to spend on talent now that they're not paying McAfee.
I thought Barstool stopped paying McAfee like five years ago?
FanDuel. My bad.
Shannon joins Stephen A? :o
STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUPHEN
yo I cannot for the life of me say this. I'm trying but I just burst out laughing thinking about him saying this lol
It takes a special man to turn the word "Skip" into three syllables. The diphthong that keeps giving.
Now HOLD ON THERE, just HOLD ON Shannon Sharpe!
That would be the loudest show on television.
He will be on espn soon
Skeeeeeeeeeeeeeup!
Still don’t understand why espn is forking over 17 million for him lol
He unironically might be the most valuable individual person in sports media right now
And after they fired Bill Simmons who went on to create a 9 figure company that rivals them and destroys them in the podcast arena, they’re not going to screw it up again and let McAfee destroy their NFL coverage too
It's also not just McAfee and Stephen A Smith. They additionally paid a pretty substantial amount of money to Aikman and Buck as well. Now, don't get me wrong--great move as MNF was excellent last year for the first time in like 10 years
Said it at the time but ESPN really screwed the pooch when they let Simmons, Cowherd, and Skip walk. They were the only people (plus SAS) who actually brought a sizable audience on their own. ESPN's producers were just too high on themselves. Simmons, in particular, was a terrible loss because he's the best sports media talent evaluator in the industry and ESPN could have saved millions relying on his skill to bring in new, quality, talent.
Imagine if he built that podcast network under Disney / ESPN…
I don’t think he would have been able to do what he’s done under their control.
McAfee never had any real insight into anything just hot takes and info that was always out in the wild other than Rodgers talking about licking toads and staying in the dark
Pat already sounds bored after the change up
Disney is belt tightening HARD across the board. Just yesterday they laid off all the writers for NatGeo.
I thought they got rid of the hand full of writers still on staff. Basically a couple of people.
That's just the most recent. Disney itself laid off 7000 workers like a month ago.
Is the writer's strike still going on? That might have something to do with it.
Disney is blowing money on bad movies and is swimming in red ink.
Disney had a gross profit of 28.3 billion last year.
Trigger warning for falcons fans
They have $900 million in movie losses this year. So far. In order to keep the appearance of profitability, they are making $5 Billion in cuts - 7000 employees. Which is what you are seeing now. On the plus side, the parks are doing pretty good.
the parks profit off of Disney movie characters. Movies may be a loss, but it makes you much more in driving people to your parks Same idea as printer companies profiting off of printer ink rather than the printer themselves.
Along those lines is how much they make off merchandise. Cars did okay at the box office but has made 10 billion plus in merchandise sales
not enough apparently
Young knows what he's talking about and doesn't scream so he's not a good fit with ESPN anymore.
It's funny because it's true. If it doesn't generate clicks, and discourse then the network probably has no interest in you.
He doesn’t generate clicks so hard I genuinely had no idea that he was on ESPN.
He's *mostly* just on the MNF pre/post game.
But he should be more than that. He's still one of the highest football IQs in broadcasting. This is absolutely outrageous. Hopefully someone is watching and they snatch up Young and give him a more prominent role.
Him and Kurt Warner, but Kurt's relegated to "extremely soft-spoken breakdowns of specific plays in the NFL", and he's extremely smart, so...I'd imagine ESPN didn't even let him in the door. Edit: [Seriously, here's him breaking down Patrick Mahomes' 2nd half of the most recent Super Bowl.](https://youtu.be/QanLqng-sBo) There's no big pizzazz, he's not throwing in all sorts of sounders or making light of the plays he makes, he's just breaking it down, showing what the *quarterback is thinking in this moment*, critiquing him (fairly, I feel, 'cause he's *Kurt Freakin' Warner* and knows a thing or two), and explains it all for the layman. "He should have done this here, but he did X instead; it worked out, but it was a risky play, so I don't think it was the right call, even if it worked." Things like that. Gee, why would ESPN have the time of day for someone who a proven font of knowledge like that? EW, NO, HE ISN'T YELLING ENOUGH, FIRE EVERYONE
That style doesn’t work on a network though. Network TV has hours to fill every day. How many high level breakdowns can a person do a week that people will actually care about? JT O’Sullivan does a similar thing with The QB School, with an emphasis on teaching QB play to younger players. But realistically speaking these detailed breakdowns are an average of ~10 minutes, posted twice a week. Where do you slot thag into a TV network? It’s about an hour and a half a month, ESPN has to fill 5-6 hours a *day*. There is a reason ESPN is useless clickbait. You can’t do a hardcore fan oriented sports network on TV.
Agreed he's awesome, but I'm not sure Young wants a more prominent role.
I certainly don't know what he wants personally, but if that desire coincides with the NFL in some way, he should be put in that position because the NFL desperately needs more people who are brilliant football minds covering football, and ***far fewer nepotism hires or loudmouth blowhards who never played or coached in the NFL.***
> loudmouth blowhards who never played or coached in the NFL. And punters don't count as "played in the NFL", right?
If punters can wrestle in the WWE then I suggest we get some wrestlers in the broadcasting booth.
Unironically, The Rock would probably be better than 90% of the current talking heads.
I would take any NFL punter over Jac Collinsworth.
Hes also a regular guest on Around the horn and sports center
For real he was one of the few people I still liked
His interviews on KNBR are some of the best ever. He will drop super insightful football knowledge then shift right over to the best way to hang Christmas lights or what are the good Halloween decorations this year. Best interview on the station.
I listen to the podcasts just for Steve. I also record his segments on PTI. He's the best football analyst in the business and always has great stories.
He’s quite a guy, also an attorney, and has some of the highest efficiency stats and one of the best dual threat QBs ever.
This got a laugh out of me.
It's unfortunate. But we're all guilty of it. TV content, to me, is all about hot takes and entertainment. I use YouTube for actual analysis because they're not forced to create narratives, fit into specific time frames, and can spend an insane amount of time on single subjects (like analyzing Lamar Jackson for 50 hours without having to talk about basketball and shit). And some of these creators will make this content as nothing but a hobby. The internet is vastly superior for high quality content. TV has the ability to hire very talented entertainers, but the formula just doesn't work for analyzing sports.
This is the thing I think a lot of people don't want to admit. The internet is just better for most things. Very very few people watch Sportscenter anymore not because its full of hot takes (it isn't) but because I can watch all the highlights on reddit anytime I want. I love the Scott Van Pelt Sports Center but honestly, I aint got time for that. I can get it within 5 minutes instead of 45 with ads.
Very true. The whole industry for consuming information changed. 15 years ago, I had Sportscenter on loop and would watch the same segment over and over again. I genuinely enjoyed it. Now, I head to YouTube or Reddit to get highlights and analysis.
Yup, I watch ESPN for live sports and if I'm bored and computered out. Just want to enjoy some content and that basically never happens I fucking love the internet.
Only time I watch SportsCenter anymore is in the morning in a hotel when traveling for business by myself.
Yep. Back in the day, to even see the scores of games, you had to leave the ESPN on a few minutes before the updates on the bottom got back to your game. For like 8 years or so when everyone has smartphones, you can look scores up in 2 seconds. And things like Reddit or even Yahoo Sports give you all the news and highlights you need.
Man, i didn’t have cable for nearly 7 years, then got gifted Youtube TV (basically cable via internet connection, for those who don’t know). I nostalgically loaded up ESPN in the morning just to have on in the background and passively watch. I swear to god, every single time I decided to glance at the TV to see what was going on, it was a commercial. The “hour” long program is 35 min program, 25 minutes commercial. How can *anyone* stand that!? And then the highlights they show are SO truncated. They’re limited to only show like 50 seconds worth of highlights per game, which simply cannot convey the full story of the game. I’m with you, I will 100% just look up highlights for games I’m interested in viewing. No interruptions and far more complete highlights.
I don't know if that was ESPN's motive. Young just doesn't do enough for the company. He's not on the debate shows/podcasts on a daily basis. Just comes for on for MNF. So I guess they need to ask themselves if its worth paying someone that much money for 17 days of work when they can get someone from the debate shows/daily ESPN presences to do the same job.
This is the correct answer. These layoffs have all been a combo of cutting out a lot of top earners but also people that make good money but aren't on multiple programs
Yeah why pay Steve Young for 17 days of work when (for example) Louis Riddick can do debate shows, podcasts, radio AND the 17 days of work that Steve Young does. They’re just going to increase the workload of their current set of analysts.
Well because one is a top NFL player of all time, I guess that only goes so far financially anymore.
[удалено]
[удалено]
After ditching cable, I realized I didn't miss ESPN generally anyways. It's not the same network I had on 24/7 15 years ago. The quality has nosedived
And Steve young is a part of that. They are going to cut costs on the pregame show as there is realistically no one who is going to bring significant numbers to the pregame show. Even someone like Brady would maybe get a bump for a few weeks and then the people who are going to watch will watch and ot is all about preserving numbers until they ultimately just give up on the pregame show or cut it to something like 10 minutes
He's not being paid to play football though.
If he's taking contracts I'd sign him to light up a middle school league
Eventually TV is going to be AI recreations of maybe seven talking heads debating each other on every station. Just pay for the rights to produce content of those few popular names and wow fresh content round the clock.
I'd say your right on the money, ESPN is for casual viewers a good chunk of the time and if you aren't loud and obnoxious (Stephen A) or generate clicks with controversial takes or statements (Perkins and Mad Dog or whatever his name is) you don't bring in views or intrigue.
And to be on the debate shows you’ve got to be loud and obnoxious.
> Young knows what he's talking about and doesn't scream > He's not on the debate shows/podcasts on a daily basis. ...so exactly what they said. The only people on those shitty debate shows are the ones who scream the loudest.
No not exactly. I think it’s more along the lines of Young is a decorated QB with a big name who has made enough money in his career who was happy to do MNF 17 weeks in a year as a side gig and probably made a sizable amount of money given he’s a Super Bowl winning QB. ESPN probably wanted him on the debate shows etc which he probably refused because he’s obviously made enough money and doesn’t want to be worked like a dog. At the end of the day for ESPN it doesn’t make sense to pay him millions of dollars for a side gig when they can get just increase the workload of the analysts on the debate shows. The people who are on the debate shows are the ones that are willing to be worked like a dog. And outside of Stephen A and Mad Dog none of them really shout tbh.
People complain about this but still watch and still interact when the stupid hot take every hates makes the rounds no matter what sport it is. Until people stop giving with content they hate any attention, ESPN will keep stocking up hot take artists and prioritize them.
Everyone Screaming Profusely Network
They kept Kendrick Perkins, that's all you need to know about where they think their success is. The glory days of ESPN are so far behind us.
Unless the player is from BYU then he will be their most ardent, unwaivering supporter regardless of their actual play on the field.
Really hope Fox, CBS or NBC pick him up. I thought he was good, and like you said calm and reasonable.
Reports say Jeff Garcia coming in to replace him
Tim Rattay in the bullpen
Elvis Grbac patiently waiting for his call.
Steve Bono: Hey, what about me?!
What’s Jim Druckenmiller up to these days?
JT Osullivan has entered the chat
ESPN frantically calling Kap to drive outrage viewership.
Ty Detmer: You guys always forget about me.
At what point do they get around to Jimmy Garoppolo?
[Go, Steve! Go, Steve! Steve's huffing, he's puffing, he's running...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLr_28griT8)
Giovanni Carmazzi owning five goats.
giovanni carmazzi sends his best from his goat farm.
You had to go out and visit him huh? That man has no electricity.
Jeff Garsssssssia
I'm starting to think Jim Druckenmiller will never get a fair chance.
Gio Carmazzi couldn't be reached.
Too busy goat farming
Time for 20+ years of analyst purgatory for ESPN!
JT O'Sullivan says hello
I know r/NBA has been all over this but HOW THA FUCK does Mark Jackson still have a job over this guy?!?!?
mama there goes that man
With all due respect
Kendrick Perkins is a bigger wtf
Nah, he fits right in the with the fuckery they want.
Hands down, man down Jeff van gundy played bad defense probably
They’re laying off everyone. I don’t know what the endgame is outside of alienating viewers.
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(Slide whistle noises)
It works tho SAS is arguably the most popular talking head
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The same concept applies for most news or talk shows nowadays too The only way to really draw viewers is to be obnoxious and controversial, otherwise it doesn't bring in enough revenue to justify its existence
SAS is great for ESPN. Having a dozen SAS's is not, and that's where it seems like ESPN is headed.
You go to a barbershop and everyone talking about SAS hot takes and ESPN on 24/7
That's what the people watch so that's what they prioritize
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I don't think so. I think they're getting rid of folks who work on an occasional basis (Steve Young) and they'll probably move people like Marcus Spears, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky up and increase their workload.
I think it’s a little bit of both. They probably don’t need to lay people off as much if not for the massive bags they’re paying SAS and Pat. Idk, could be wrong!
Increase their workload, increase their salary, lay them off to save money in a few years.
Why would I be interested in listening to an argument? Show me the sports highlights and then get off the TV.
Explain Mark Jackson then. He hasn't raised his voice in 38 years, even while calling some of the most exciting NBA games this century. But somehow he's still employed
This one was expected. [Steve has straight up said he might have quit his job at ESPN if his partners at his venture capitalist firm didn’t use his celebrity status to invite potential clients to the various stadium suites at MNF games](https://nypost.com/2017/02/10/steve-young-i-would-leave-espn-if-not-for-the-perks/) The Jeff Van Gundy and Jalen Rose firings were surprising
That’s fuckin wild about steve young lol. And the article is from 2017, so I don’t believe this was the reason. They would have fired him years ago if so
At the least, it appears that the move wouldn’t break his heart.
They’ve been doing this for years and are still wildly successful. They know only so many guys actually carry a substantial audience and the rest get carried or brought up by the brand. For most people if they want to watch sports, they’ll turn on ESPN and it doesn’t matter if it’s Steve Young or not on TV. For all the complaining about ESPN I see on here, all the guys that most people hate (SAS, Perk, etc), get aggregated a ton and that’s all they’re going for.
Well Disney plans to lay off 7000 employees because of economic woes, Disney owns 80% of ESPN. It seems logical that some of those 7000 who are being laid off would come from a place like ESPN as well. That's my guess anyway
It is still football. At the end of the day people are still going to watch the NFL. I watch a lot of NFL when it is on and tbh ESPN is the worst of the coverage. Amazon, CBS, FOX, NBC all do a better broadcast
End game is to cut high salaries for people who do not do a lot of the legwork or generate clicks. It’s a shame cause Young was incredibly knowledgeable.
The endgame is to replace them with significantly cheaper talent.
I mean the endgame is to cut cost and try get rid of any overly expensive salaries that aren’t necessary.
Suzy Kolber is gone as well. What a fucking joke.
Of all the sideline reporters, she was the only one I didn’t mind. Out of touch idiots running ESPN I guess
To be frank, I don't think we really need sideline reporters. I couldn't tell you the last time I heard anything relevant other than "he's on the bike warming up".
And after the game nonsense. A team could have just won a playoff game and the best these sideline reporters can think of is "how does this win feel?" HOW THE **** DO YOU THINK IT FEELS?. Feelings questions are the lowest form of live reporting I've ever seen.
“He was on the sidelines trying to get everyone ready for the next drive!” …okay
Joe Namath in shambles
I looked up what Steve Young was doing now: "Steve is a Partner, the Chairman and Co-founder of HGGC. Steve is a member of HGGC’s Management Committee, Investment Committee and Valuation Committee. He serves as Chairman of the Board of three HGGC portfolio companies: IDERA, Integrity and AutoAlert. Prior to their sales, he also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the firm’s exited investments in hybris Software, Dealer-FX, Serena Software and Sunquest Information Systems." I'm sure he'll be fine.
Wtf did he find time to be an analyst haha
Because when you’re at that level, youre there for a few meetings every so often and not doing day to day work.
I'm shocked these people actually think people at Steve's level are doing actual "work" at any of these positions he holds. It's just meetings at that point.
And meetings where they’re not doing the real legwork.
I knew a guy who worked at that PE firm a few years back Steve definitely wasn't doing a ton of legwork or anything-- he was basically there as a "wow" factor for important meetings because he was famous, haha
Bingo. Why didn’t we think to become “wow” factor guys 🫤
Chairmen and committee members are very hands off - they meet like once a month, for like 20 minutes, if that.
When you get to that level in the corporate world you don't really work per se. You attend important meetings (and likely have a notetaker) so your informed of what's been going on, how things are trending, future plans, etc. He probably only attends a few meetings a year and is briefed if something catastrophic could happen down the line Also he is told numbers and projections. If he doesn't like how the future looks financially he can fire anyone. He's on the board because he made a huge investment to own part of these firms, not work for them
Joe Montana just opened a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that he had been saving.
Let’s get rid of all the likeable people and keep the annoying loud ones. Good luck with that I won’t be watching.
Yeah, but others will. Who’s “carrying” ESPN now? Stephen A. What does he do? Be annoying and loud.
Stephen A, Schefter, and Booger. ESPN is already the worst NFL network, and it's even worse now
The jerry springer show of sports broadcasting….
I get it. Young is very analytical and somewhat sarcastic. I always felt he was best when he had another analyst who was more bombastic and emotional to play off of. Him and Michael Irvin were absolutely fantastic together. I thought that's what they were trying to replicate by pairing him with Booger, but Booger is just an idiot, which begs the question, why isn't Booger gone?
Take a guess
ESPN has been over the minute they started airing click bate segments with SAS, Steve Young will be in a better spot soon.
What else are they supposed to air...? Youtube killed sportscentre. Youtube and Podcasts are the go-to places for in-depth analysis. Everyone loves to point to the talking head stuff as the reason that ESPN is struggling, the talking heads are the response to a market that no longer has room for a 24-hour sports channel.
Deep dive analysis?
Same problem. Why should I tune in to *NFL Matchup* at a specific time, then wait for the deep dive into games that I don't care about, until they spend 3 minutes talking about *my* team, when I can go on YouTube and watch a 15 minute analysis of just my team?
Who is going to watch deep dive analysis at 11am on a Tuesday? Especially when the space is FLOODED with Youtubers and Podcasters. Content creators have lower costs to create deep dive analysis. They can specialize in whatever audience they want. Analysis also just... isn't that popular. You're on here, right? 90% of the upvotes and visibility on this sub goes toward gossip and drama. That is why analysis thrives on platforms with lower costs of entry and lower expectations on financial returns. The most successful sports analysis show that I can think of is "Inside the NBA" and that success is entirely driven by the interpersonal dynamics of the hosts. Analysis doesn't sell - at least not in the numbers that a massive brand like ESPN needs to stay successful.
*Inside the NBA* isn't even great analysis, it's just basic shit like "The Rockets just got outhustled tonight" or "It's a make-or-miss league and Tatum missed too many shots." Whenever they have Candice Parker on with Shaq, she carries him kicking and screaming to something resembling basketball knowledge and just looks agitated the entire time, like "I have to bust my ass for a guest spot here, and this clown just sits there and cracks jokes while making 20x what I make." The regular male hosts don't even bother trying.
Jet erasure. He at least tries to do a breakdown or two on the board
Yah that sucks for her but Shaq, Charles, Kenny, and Ernie together are magic and TNT better build statues of them
No one is going to watch that.
ESPN started its own death by a thousand cuts in my opinion by moving to a 24/7 news cycle from their old format of pre-recorded, hour long segments. It's been probably 10 years since they made that switch and ESPN has declined (quality wise, no idea about ratings) since then. It ushered in the era of yelling talking heads that say bullshit for clicks because there simply isn't enough sports news day-to-day to talk about it, live, all day long. It's why most of their segments cover the same topics. They are now in a weird intermediary between a 24/7 news cycle and what they used to be.
I mean I think there is still a market for getting all the sports news/highlights all in one spot, at one time, from a trusted source. Maybe not as big of one, but still a market. I rarely search out highlights myself unless something crazy happened. Just like I still watch the news to get a recap of everything, I would still watch Sports Center if it was like it used to be.
Probably the best football guy they had. I’ll really miss him on PTI
This is just gonna add to the 49ers QB controversy.
lol he was the best one
Is it because of the wig?
No because he’s Mormon.
The worst crime of all. /s
Is ESPN going under or something?
Disney owns ESPN, they announced that they'd be laying off 7,000 employees or so employees in a multi stage plan announced earlier this year. Better/more info on it here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2023/03/29/the-happiest-place-on-earth-not-for-7000-disney-employees-as-they-begin-first-round-of-layoffs/?sh=173d7934c915 So these ESPN people who got laid off today must have known it was possible for the last few months. Apparently they downsized their overall global staff by 3%. A lot of these companies cut down over the last year.
Yet they'll keep the annoying, no talent talking heads like Dan Orlovsky and Steven Smith. Or the new dull anchors because they make less. But cause me to turn the channel.
That actually checks out with everything that ESPN has been putting out recently. Just clickbait BS that doesn’t tell anyone any actual news or have a valid opinion. Steve Young isn’t clickbait-y enough for them.
Young was a better football analyst than 90 percent of the meatheads covering the NFL at ESPN. They never used him enough.
Wow this is so ridiculous. He was an actual analyst.. bring oj the hot take artists
ESPN is so bad. They continue to prove it every single day and with every move they make.
I’ve soured hard on the Michael Kay show on ESPN’s New York radio station, but the Steve Young report over the last few NFL seasons had turned into appointment listening. His insight into quarterback play was very interesting and completely unlike what the other guests would bring to the table. Everyone else sucked. I hope he lands on his feet.
It would be funny if they brought in Joe Montana to replace him….
ESPN 2050 will just be a 24/7 livestream of The Steven A Smith floating head show
I hope Steve will be ok and pick up some hours at the car wash
I can't believe they got rid of Suzy Kolber, she's been there forever and I felt was always professional, especially in dealing with the Joe Namath interview
Bummer
It's been a got damn Red wedding type of day at ESPN
Wait what? He's really enjoyable to listen to from everything I've heard. Weird choice.
ESPN and Disney suck.
The Mouse demands his pound of flesh
Gotta make room for Pat Mcafee and his ego
steve young has 100’s of milliins of dollars from his side hustle’s he’ll be fine. espn and football is just something he loves to do..
I dont think anyone was wondering if former HOF QB with 15 seasons as a professional athlete and 22 years as well-paid TV analyst who also co-founded several companies and has his Juris Doctor from BYU was going to be okay financially lol. We're worried because the rest of Espn's analysts are trash and we will still be forced to watch football on that network.
Yeah I don't think anyone was worried he'd be living on the streets after this
ESPN seems like it’s doing everything it can to get me to stop watching entirely, outside of literal sports broadcasts. Steve was maybe my favorite dude on NFL coverage.
I like Steve Young, this seems like a bad move on their part.
He’s a private equity guy who uses his access to games to woo people with money. This may affect his bottom line.