On Wednesday, longtime ESPN analyst Damien Woody revealed his time at the network had come to an end.
Woody had been with ESPN for 15 years, appearing on show like Get Up, SportsCenter and others, breaking down football from the perspective of a former athlete and Super Bowl champion.
Not re-signing Woody adds to ESPN’s series of layoffs, which comes as it contends with declining cable subscribers, hefty rights fees and the recent acquisition of NFL Media (note- it was an equity deal, but it resulted in increased operational expenses for ESPN).
But that doesn’t mask the alarming message these layoffs send relating to Black sports media talent.
At a time where Black America is under attack by the corrupt and vindictive Tr**p administration, it’s distressing to see the World Wide Leader in Sports’ shedding of Black media talent.
In less than 10 years, ESPN has parted ways with Ryan Clark, Cam Newton, Bart Scott, Charles Davis, Andreas Hale, Jemele Hill, Michael Smith, Bomani Jones, Jalen Rose, Keyshawn Johnson, Robert Griffin III (RGIII), Mark Jackson and Shannon Sharpe.
And while many have continued their successful media careers, the resulting on air visuals are both glaring and disturbing.
We previously wrote about the erasure of Black voices both on ESPN and across national sports radio, but the decision not to renew Woody’s contract, especially after ESPN’s increased investment in NFL programming and the start of the season only a few weeks away, has frustrated Black sports fans blasting the network.
And rightfully so.
On social media, detractors, as expected, have responded to Black frustration with the tired retorts of “stop bringing race into this” and “white people were fired too,” the latter of which is true.
But when you part ways with the aforementioned talent, many of whom have large and powerful social media and podcast platforms (Clark, Newton, Hill, Jones, Sharpe) and then announce a new college football show, “‘Bussin’ & Pate on Campus”, which has all white hosts, the message is clear.
I’m not disparaging or insulting Josh Pate, Will Compton or Taylor Lewan. This isn’t about them.
This is a dissection of ESPN’s decisions and the layered messages they send, one of which is that Black voices and audiences aren’t wanted or needed as much as others are.
It’s true that people like Domonique Foxworth, Louis Riddick are Marcus Spears are still with the network.
But when you release that many Black people then launch a new show devoid of Black talent and significantly beef up Pat McAfee’s presence (and paycheck), you’re clear about the audience you’re seeking.
Representation and perspective matters, especially when it comes to Black representation and perspective in a sport predominantly played by Black athletes.
But ESPN is making it clear that they are investing in ways to attract a specific audience with a specific look, one that lacks Melanin.
The other message ESPN is relaying, consciously or not, relates back to ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro’s desire to focus heavily on live events and sports coverage without the politics.
“Without question our data tells us our fans do not want us to cover politics,” Pitaro said to the LA Times in 2019. “My job is to provide clarity. I really believe that some of our talent was confused on what was expected of them. If you fast-forward to today, I don’t believe they are confused.”
Since taking over, Pitaro has eliminated the attention given to cultural and societal issues and focused on ratings, which have improved across the board, particularly in live sports programming.
Yet parting ways with this much Black talent, some of whom were part of the network’s recent ratings surge, sends a dangerous message with two possible conclusions- Black sports media talent isn’t capable of “sticking to sports” and these voices aren’t crucial to ratings success.
We know they’re false, but some will infer those notions.
In his recent Front Office Sports story, “Critics Can No Longer Claim ESPN Is ‘Woke’”, Michael McCarthy touched on this very issue.
The network removed the political, cultural and societal discussions from its programming and got rid of Black talent at the same time.
Yet ESPN hypocritically streams Tr**p’s ridiculous “Freedom 250 Patriot Games” with Pitaro and McAfee yakking it up with the president.
What happened to not covering politics and just sticking to sports? Apparently they’ve adopted the hypocritical MAGA pattern of applying the “stick to sports” mantra only when Black protagonists are involved.
Now, I’m not calling Pitaro or ESPN racist, but it’s important to shed light on what their recent decisions signify when juxtaposed against launching “‘Bussin’ & Pate on Campus” and calls for eliminating politics from coverage while simultaneously airing the Patriot Games and interviewing Tr**p.
Sports must have diverse voices and perspectives, now more than every, which is why I started First and Pen.
And the latest rash of Black layoffs at ESPN only serves as further proof of why our voices, and the voices of others like us, are so sorely needed.
