Five ESPN executives out in latest management shakeup

ESPN announced a sweeping reorganization on Monday under President of Content Burke Magnus, which has been months in the making after the network parted ways with longtime executive Norby Williamson in April.

In a memo sent to ESPN employees Monday morning, Magnus announced 37-year network veteran Mike McQuade has been promoted to an EVP role and will be overseeing Sports Production (meaning live events) and Dave Roberts is leading the Sports News & Entertainment team, which covers news and studio shows that aren’t specific to a single sport or league, such as “SportsCenter,” “First Take,” “Get Up” and so forth.

In his most recent role, Roberts had been overseeing NBA and WNBA game and studio production.

The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported that five ESPN executives lost their jobs in the reorganization.

The names of the executives were not immediately known.

“Heard about some old friends soon to exit ESPN,” former “SportsCenter” anchor Kenny Mayne wrote Saturday in a post on X.

“They were diligent and considerate and great allies. They cared deeply about the project each night and protected their teammates….with the right info or guidance. One of them can name every MLB umpire. That alone will benefit the next employer.”

In his memo to ESPN employees, Magnus expanded on the process of the reorganization.

“Since May, we’ve been working on a plan to restructure our department to improve collaboration, centralize functions, create better alignment, and redeploy resources to areas of growth – further positioning our people to deliver on ESPN’s priorities during rapidly evolving times,” Magnus wrote. 

“To ensure we identified the best structure possible, we engaged Disney’s organizational development team to interview nearly 75 ESPN stakeholders, and with their recommendations in hand, and after careful deliberation, I am pleased to share our new structure.

“With these moves, I believe we will be more strategic, collaborative and nimble, as we continue to excel in every area and function. We remain committed to employee development, and the restructure will result in new positions or promotions for people who are expanding their responsibilities or taking on new challenges.”

Other announcements in the memo included a new team “to streamline and centralize digital, social and streaming” that is being led by Kaitee Daley, and that Freddie Rolón is the Head of Global Sports and the talent office.