By Pete Grathoff
Tribune News Service
Sports fans in the United States have made it a full month without games.
To fill the void during the COVID-19 pandemic, people have shared videos of marble racing, trick golf shots and pets doing strange and funny things.
Classic games are being aired again, but the thirst for live sports remains unquenched.
ESPN has tried its best to fill the void, but admits it’s not an easy chore.
“There is simply no appropriate comparison to what we are all currently going through – both at ESPN and those who consume ESPN,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN’s executive vice president for programming, on the network’s website.
“As a result, we rely on our strong relationship with sports fans and look to build upon that every day through creative, distinctive programming.”
That programming isn’t pulling in nearly the viewership of live sports.
ESPN’s ratings, Bloomberg reported, are down 57% since March 13 and were 70% lower in the first week of April.
That’s why the company has asked some of its highest-paid broadcasters, writers and analysts to take a 15% pay cut for three months, according to multiple reports.
People who produce live sporting events will go on furlough next week, according to Bloomberg.
The Washington Post said the cuts in salary would include anyone making more than $500,000, and affect “some of ESPN’s best-known talent, such as Stephen A. Smith, who reportedly makes around $8 million annually.”
“Today, I am asking you something that I never imagined I would,” ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro wrote in an email to those whose salary would be reduced, per the Post. “We are reaching out to about 100 of our on-air talent and commentators to ask that, at this time, you join our ESPN executives in taking a temporary reduction in pay. We are requesting that you take this reduction on for a three-month period.”
Smith, Jay Bilas, Scott Van Pelt and Dick Vitale are among those who have agreed to the salary reduction, the New York Post said. That story notes ESPN believes the cuts will help other employees remain employed.
ESPN isn’t the only one feeling the pinch. Sports Illustrated reduced its staff by 6% at the end of March, Forbes reported, because of declining revenue (a $30 million shortfall) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, it also parted ways with soccer writer Grant Wahl in a public and messy split.
The sports website The Athletic “has cut its executives’ salaries,” the New York Times reported.
“With no games to cover (and no travel expenses filed by its roughly 300 editorial employees), this subscription site is looking to preserve the $50 million it brought in during a recent fundraising round,” the Times said.
FanGraphs, which offers baseball statistics and analysis, made a public plea for financial help in late March. Owner David Appelman penned an essay about the site’s troubles.
“Starting March 12, after the announcement that Opening Day would be postponed, we have seen a steep decline in our site traffic that has lead to a correspondingly dramatic decline in revenue,” Appelman wrote. “Every piece you read and tool you use at FanGraphs is free to access, but they all take money to create. We are a small business. We rely on the revenue generated by site traffic.
“As a result of these declines, I’ve had to make fairly aggressive budget cuts to try to keep FanGraphs viable as a company until the COVID-19 pandemic is resolved and baseball returns. This has involved all of our full-time staff members taking pay cuts, laying off the majority of our contributors and closing The Hardball Times for the foreseeable future.”