Mike Florio: ESPN's continued layoffs are a big deal | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

[00:00:00]All right, next up the story of the week has been the unexpected bloodletting in Bristol.

[00:00:09]We got the first wind of it on Monday when Ryan Clark was laid off, fired, terminated, services no longer needed, whatever label you want to apply to it. He found out that he no longer had a job while he was on the air. We talked about how ridiculous that outcome is yesterday.

[00:00:30]On Tuesday, we learned more of the names of the people who have either been long-term employees at NFL Network like Tom Pelissero or longtime employees at ESPN like Karl Ravech who's been there since 1993 for crying out loud.

[00:00:48]And it's been a big story. Here's why it's a big story.

[00:00:52]No one should be surprised it's a big story because these individuals become the conduits for how we get our information about sports.

[00:01:01]We see them all the time. We hear them all the time. We feel like we know them whether we like them or not and anyone that that is in this space is going to have people on both sides of the love them or hate them divide.

[00:01:17]There are very few that have 100% or close to it fans or 100% or close to it detractors.

[00:01:28]But when there are people that you are used to being the ones to provide you this It's going to create interest.

[00:01:38]We can track our real-time traffic.

[00:01:41]Most of our top stories yesterday related to these layoffs at ESPN. So, it is a very big deal and I I make that point because I just wonder whether ESPN underestimated how big of a deal it was going to be.

[00:01:59]I do think that the entire situation is an example of how not to run a major media company.

[00:02:07]The idea that someone who knew the names of people who were going to be let go was talking to reporters and word was getting out before they could have the conversations with the affected employees.

[00:02:25]That is a pass-fail test. And you can have any and all excuses you want, but it is a cultural problem.

[00:02:34]If you have people who are in a position to have access to highly sensitive human resources information who are running their mouths. And it could be that some high-level executive is the rat.

[00:02:51]It could be that there was enough talk happening in the building that someone who heard about it second hand or third hand decided as I said yesterday, let's curry some favor with one of the media reporters. Let's make their job easier so they'll go easier on me the next time that I step in That's a real factor for a lot of these folks who trade in this loose quid pro quo, especially as it relates to media reporters.

[00:03:23]If you've got a good relationship with one of the media reporters, that media reporter is never going to come at you maybe the way that he or she otherwise would.

[00:03:34]One of the reasons why there's so much information that's spoon-fed to the insiders at the NFL level. You're buying protection for yourself and for your clients if you're an agent who is handing the information to people who have a big firehose on social media. So, the takeaway for any business, but especially a business that operates in the public eye, you got to tighten it up a little bit.

[00:04:02]You You got to factor that into your planning.

[00:04:04]And surely these things were planned months in advance.

[00:04:08]ESPN acquires NFL Network April 1.

[00:04:11]There was a flurry of don't worry, don't worry, everything's fine, nothing to see here, don't worry, be happy. Then, including the representation that any of the NFL Network talent that had existing contracts would continue until the contract expire. Tom Pelissero still had a year left, so that wasn't entirely accurate.

[00:04:30]But, I'm sure they picked out a date on the calendar, sat down and looked at the best time to do it. Last week was the ESPYs, let's not do it then.

[00:04:40]Whenever the ESPYs were, I can't remember. 2 weeks ago? I don't know.

[00:04:43]Whenever the ESPYs were, wait, we can't we probably don't want to do it then.

[00:04:47]When's the best time to do this? Let's find the ultimate dead spot, and they found a window between the ESPYs and the opening of training camp. Boom.

[00:04:57]Perfect time to do it. Now, end of the week would have been better than start of the week, but hey.

[00:05:04]There are many issues when it comes to the strategic planning that went into these ESPN layoffs, and it's unfortunate because it put multiple people in a very awkward spot.

[00:05:14]Could you imagine at your job other people finding out that you're going to be out of a job before you do?

[00:05:24]And then it's one thing for people in the break room to be whispering about it.

[00:05:30]It's out there for the world to see.

[00:05:33]And you haven't even been told yet.

[00:05:35]And I know that happened with multiple folks.

[00:05:38]Now, that's still better than being fired on the air.

[00:05:42]But, they got to tighten it up.

[00:05:45]And before you can tighten it up, you have to want to. You have to care. You have to give a about the human beings who work for you. And not that I aspire to ever work for ESPN, even if I did, I'd still tell you the truth.

[00:06:03]You can draw conclusions from whether or not they truly care about the human beings who work for them based on how they treat the human beings in the most difficult and delicate of moments.

[00:06:13]So, they got to tighten their stuff up before they do this again.

[00:06:17]Because this week has been an embarrassment for ESPN. Hi, it's Mike Florio. Thanks for watching PFT on YouTube. Hit subscribe for the latest news and analysis from Pro Football Talk.