Longtime “SportsCenter” Sage Steele says she is leaving ESPN; Dianna Russini is leaving ESPN for a plum role at The Athletic; plus: more on the Pac-12 and the Orioles’ Kevin Brown.
Steele says she’s leaving ESPN
ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor Sage Steele said on social media Tuesday that she has settled her lawsuit with ESPN and parent company Disney and now will leave the company, ending a tenure that began in 2007. Steele’s departure was set in motion two years ago when ESPN took her off the air for a week and dropped her from some scheduled assignments after comments she made on a podcast. Steele then sued ESPN under a Connecticut law that bans employers from punishing their employees for protected speech.
Steele remained on-air as a regular “SportsCenter” host despite the lawsuit. (Steele 8.15)
Russini leaving ESPN for The Athletic
ESPN NFL reporter Dianna Russini is leaving the company to join The Athletic as its lead NFL insider, the New York Post reported last week. Russini had been with ESPN since 2014. Per the report, ESPN wanted to retain Russini and was willing to offer her a raise.
ESPN just recently laid off more than a dozen on-air staffers, just the latest in several rounds of layoffs over the past decade. (NYP 8.11)
Pac-12 turned down $30m/school ESPN deal
ESPN last fall offered the Pac-12 a contract worth an annual $30 million per school, but exited negotiations after the conference presented a counteroffer of $50 million, according to multiple reports over the weekend. The ESPN deal would have encompassed all of the Pac-12 media rights, including Pac-12 Network.
The Pac-12, which as of now will be down to four schools after this season, ended up presenting its members a deal with Apple worth $25 million per school.
In related news, the ACC has fallen one vote short of adding Stanford and Cal — two of the four remaining Pac-12 schools — as at least four members are in opposition. (John Canzano 8.11, San Jose Mercury News 8.11, 8.13)
Orioles’ Brown returns to air after statement
Orioles play-by-play voice Kevin Brown returned to the air on Friday after a widely-reported absence, but not before releasing a statement that said media reports had “mischaracterized” his relationship with the Orioles and constituted “distracting noise.” Brown, per Awful Announcing and The Athletic, was suspended after mentioning on-air that the Orioles had won as many games in Tampa Bay this season as in the prior three seasons combined. (ESPN.com 8.12)
