Former ESPN exec recalls Max Kellerman’s ‘Around the Horn’ departure: ‘He wanted too much money!’

With the recent news that Around the Horn will end its run in May, we’ve seen plenty of looks back at how the seminal ESPN program came to be and lasted 23 years and over 4,800 episodes.

While Tony Reali has hosted the sports discussion and debate show since February 2004, it was originally hosted by Max Kellerman. Kellerman left ESPN in early 2004 to host a new show on Fox Sports Net before returning to the network years later.

Mark Shapiro, now the president and COO of Endeavor and TKO, was the head of ESPN programming in 2001 when he oversaw the creation of Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn. He spoke with Front Office Sports this past week. Along with sharing that the network’s sales team didn’t know what to do with the show, he discussed why they hired Kellerman and why it ultimately fell apart.

Shapiro praised Kellerman, saying that he was hired as the host because he was smart andn’t afraid to be confrontational.

“He’s got a lot of personality. He’s extremely bright and articulate,” said Shapiro. “He wasn’t afraid to bring it. He wasn’t afraid to put forward a controversial take. He didn’t shy away from opinion. He knew how to speak in sound bites. We knew he’d be terrific at directing traffic, and he was driving one hell of a niche and personality for himself in boxing and we thought he could go broader.”

However, when it came time to renegotiate his contract, Kellerman had a certain view of his value and Shapiro says that he and ESPN simply didn’t agree with that assessment.

“We were in a contract dispute with Max. His deal was up and he wanted too much money!” Shapiro told FOS. “It was that simple. He wasn’t moving, and I wasn’t bluffing, and ultimately it was a divorce. I don’t know if at the time he took us seriously and thought ultimately we’d cave and he was too integral to the success of the show, but we didn’t believe that was the case. Woody had obviously blossomed, and Plaschke was a big voice, and Bob Ryan in Boston really worked.

“It became true we just needed an air traffic controller—one with opinions, personality, and humor who could hold his own with some of those big names. But the central reason you were tuning in wasn’t for the host.”

Kellerman left for Fox, “Stat Boy” Reali stepped into the big chair, and the rest was history.

Kellerman’s return and subsequent second exit from ESPN is a whole other story, and the sports media world is still waiting to find out what his next act will be.