Agreed.
They’ve already had an absolute bloodbath of the last 12 months with contracts not renewed, terminated, old-timers forced out, etc.
There is open talk that Bristol operations is essentially an intern program now with salaries so low that ESPN must provide its own buses and routes because the employees can’t afford vehicles.
Charlotte is down to Finebaum, a cameraman and a sound engineer and a few college football writers who are mostly on the road.
They’re outsourcing production help whenever and wherever they can but in many instances union regs don’t permit them to do so.
In sum, it’s difficult to see where additional reductions can take place. I was about to include the disclaimer ‘without quality suffering’ but except for an HD picture there is little quality about anything ESPN these days.
The NBA contract is a recursive nightmare. Because they have so much invested, they cover a league with 80 games/season as if every night is the Super Bowl. Offhand remarks, tweets and raised eyebrows are given blanket coverage and are fodder for ESPN’s especially odious brand of faux outrage and fatuous debate. Unfortunately, there are plenty of gullible masses who obsess over someone else’s contract, house, brand of sneakers, etc.
I suppose the most bizarre aspect is that these players’ openly-stated and openly-pursued goal is to spend as little time as possible on a campus of higher learning. In fact, going straight to the NBA is viewed as a badge of honor and superior talent. It may be, in fact, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are told repeatedly that the intentionally ignorant (in the strict dictionary definition sense of the word) are the most interesting, consequential athletes on the planet.
I laugh at their money problems! Hahaha.