ESPN pay cuts?

I stand corrected ... NYT says Ponder was at $3 million annually. Still, a lot given what she did.

 

ESPN is spending billions on its new league contracts, saving tens of millions cutting overpriced talent doesn't surprise me. There will just be fewer ex-jocks turned talking heads for Mushnick to complain about.

 

Considering they do the show from the NY studio - figure they'll "ask" Greenberg to work another three hour plus shift. And I'm also pretty sure he won't get a dime more than what his contract is already. Thirteen hours on live TV (plus prep) for $6.5 mil. Good value for ESPN.

 

He’s just a natural…


https://twitter.com/rgiii/status/1824162360342323388?s=46&t=UH_wsfZqbkE5nNxvKsFjZw

 

Not how it works.

 

Thanks for the clarification, MH.

So, in essence, the WWL just announced that they're not signing Ponder to another deal, and paying RGIII now to go away.

 

Which is kinda dirty, basically two weeks before the season -- I assume he wasn't scheduled for FSU-Ga Tech next week in Dublin.

I wonder if those two moves were made on the assumption that if cuts had to made among "lower level people" they have bank accounts due to NFL money that won't hurt as much as others (Griffin made 33 mil and Christian Ponder made 12)

 

For the longest time, ESPN was obsessed about not letting their on-air people be bigger than the product. Patrick, Olbermann, Kilborn all reached a position where they weren’t going to reach a larger platform. Stuart Scott was probably the only one to leverage his persona into something greater. Kenny Mayne at a lower level.

Then the world changed. You needed persona to keep people. PTI was the first example - they couldn’t just plug anyone in there when Tony and Wilson were out. Then SaS. LeBatard.

At times, they would take big swings and misses. Rick Reilly. Katie Nolan. Rush Limbaugh.

Now.. if you’re making a ton of money, you have to have a following. A reason people will watch. Sam Ponder was interchangeable with hundreds of other studio hosts who just aren’t… interesting. We’re in the interesting business now more than ever.

I’ve got a friend who works in Bristol. High-profile. About seven figures. You would all know him. He knows the blade will, eventually, get him there and he savors each week, each big event he is “out front” on.

One day he will get the tap on the shoulder that he’s down. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to do work any more once he’s done. Still lives like he’s making 150k and not 7-8x that.

Do people watch the events he covers because of him? No and he knows it. But he’s good at it… Bristol just hasn’t come for him yet.

 

Especially for what...21 shows a year?

 

If it’s a highlight show (PrimeTime BITD with Berman/TJ), your host matters. If it’s a pregame/postgame show, your analysts matter, not the host.

But if Ponder was making $1m for 21 big Sundays a year, you either need to make an impact or save your money.

 

The deal is blocked, for now.

Judge temporarily blocks sports streaming service owned by Disney, Fox, Warner Bros.