Longtime ESPN communications director Chris LaPlaca made a major announcement on Tuesday afternoon. LaPlaca revealed his intentions to retire from his position at the end of 2023 after a 43-year run with the network.
LaPlaca made the announcement of his retirement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This just in,” LaPlaca wrote. “After 43 fantastic years, I will be retiring from ESPN at the end of the year. Here’s what I shared with my colleagues.”
LaPlaca left a statement, which he also included in the post, about his exit.
This just in. After 43 fantastic years, I will be retiring from ESPN at the end of the year.
Here’s what I shared with my colleagues. pic.twitter.com/DZKhnqR4mn
— Chris LaPlaca (@ex_espn_chris) October 17, 2023
That statement read:
“It feels like just last week I walke dinto an office trailer at a little-known TV network called ESPN and used a folding table for my desk. I have a kaleidoscope of memories hurtling through my mind – all the firsts, allt he brand extensions, the very first day Disney came to Bristol and changed our trajectory, the relentless focus on evolving still evident today. What resonates the most are the exceptional people of this place (starting with my Comms team peeps!) – passionate, smart, committed – and it has been my distinct honor and daily pleasure to be your teammate.”
It’s been an active Summer and Fall in Bristol, Connecticut. ESPN has undergone a lot of cosmetic changes up front. Several longtime employees, both on-air and off-air, exited the company either mutually or through a mass wave of layoffs. LaPlaca doesn’t fit into either of those categories, but he fits the theme of a new environment at ESPN. Nothing lasts forever, but it is wild to see so much change happen for numerous reasons over such a short period of time.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022