ESPN sent shockwaves through the sports media industry on Friday when it was announced that they would be laying off 20 on-air personalities, a list that includes some of their long-tenured and most recognizable stars.
According to BroBible, ESPN is letting go of Suzy Kolber, Steve Young, Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy, Jalen Rose, Todd McShay, Matt Hasselbeck, Ashley Brewer, Joon Lee, LaPhonso Ellis, Jordan Cornette and Jason Fitz.
Kellerman makes in the neighborhood of $5 million a year, while Johnson, his co-host, was in the second year of a five-year contract worth around $18 million.
By letting go of the sports media personalities the company is hoping to save tens of millions of dollars, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Machard.
ESPN’s parent company, Disney, previously had three rounds of layoffs with the goal of eliminating 7,000 jobs, some of which were sports news journalists, which were ordered by the company’s CEO, Bob Iger.