My passion for sports--well, addiction more accurately--can be directly attributed to the “worldwide leader in sports,” ESPN. As far back as I can remember, when I would grab the television remote as a kid and hit the “on” button, the first thing I did was go directly to ESPN. ESPN’s flagship program, "SportsCenter" was my morning and afternoon ritual. I have always prided myself on knowing more about athletes than just the team they play for or their jersey number; I’ve always had a craving to learn everything I can about them. ESPN birthed and fueled this desire inside me. However, these days I use other sports media outlets to keep up: I prefer Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, and Sports Illustrated. In fact, my main reason for writing for Odyssey is in hopes of one day writing for at least one of those three. I don’t watch ESPN anymore -- at least not when I don’t have to. Sometimes the Carolina Tar Heels or Boston Red Sox are featured, and I can’t watch them through any other outlet because they’re blacked out in any other capacity; so I have to watch them on ESPN. That’s the kind of power they have and they’ve always had. Although, it seems for the first time in my life, ESPN has begun to sputter a bit. And several of the personalities that I grew up watching on ESPN are leaving.
Six of the biggest names in sports broadcasting have left ESPN since the beginning of 2015: Bill Simmons, Skip Bayless, Mike Tirico, Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock, and Curt Schilling. There are two main reasons for the separation of these six personalities from ESPN: contract conflicts and behavior conflicts. ESPN was outbid by Fox Sports and NBC Sports for Bayless, Tirico, and Cowherd. Cowherd joined Fox Sports in August 2015, but Tirico and Bayless have both announced their departures only two days apart in April of this year. Being outbid is often a rare experience for ESPN, but not lately. ESPN also laid off around 300 employees and disbanded Simmons’ creation "Grantland." While Bayless, Tirico, and Cowherd have all faced controversy in their time at ESPN, Simmons, Whitlock, and Schilling have all left exclusively for behavioral reasons.
Simmons, who has since started a new media venture entitled “The Ringer,” was suspended by ESPN multiple times for negative statements about Bayless’ program “First Take,” criticism of Boston radio station WEEI, and comments critical of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. In the latter conflict, he even dared ESPN to suspend him -- and they did. Simmons often battled ESPN over its censorship practices. Whitlock has left ESPN twice, once in 2006 and again last year. He has faced criticism for comments regarding race and under what circumstances a man should be allowed to have a mistress.
Schilling, however, is the latest name stirring up controversy -- something he is not a stranger to. Schilling posted an anti-transgender meme on Facebook communicating his views on the North Carolina HB2 law. He has long posted controversial items on social media, but this proved to be the last straw. Schilling expresses no regret over his actions and has even indiscreetly called out several of his former colleagues at ESPN. While Bayless, Tirico, and Cowherd have left ESPN for better offers, they were not strangers to controversy, but Simmons, Whitlock, and Schilling were dismissed from ESPN as a direct response to frequent disruption.
ESPN has long been the most notable and far-reaching mecca of sports, satisfying the tastes of addicts and laymen alike. It has always been the default source of news and events with the majority of power in sports media. But ESPN has lost six big names since the beginning of 2015. Bayless will be joining Whitlock and Cowherd at Fox Sports and Tirico will be moving to NBC Sports to succeed the great Al Michaels on "Sunday Night Football." Schilling has claimed that he has already received multiple offers for employment. While all six have been involved in controversy, three have left for greener pastures and bigger paychecks, and the other three have left as a direct result of disruptive behavior. While it is new for ESPN to be outbid for talent, it is even newer to have such threatening competition. Fox Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and Turner Sports have long been inferior platforms, but the gap may be closing if they continue collecting talent away from the once-superior ESPN.
