ESPN’s flagship show is making a seismic move.
The network will be moving its Los Angeles-based SportsCenter back to its Bristol, Connecticut headquarters, as first reported by Mollie Cahillane of Sports Business Journal. Los Angeles-based soccer programming will also be impacted by the move, but ESPN’s NBA shows will remain on the West Coast.
Per Cahillane, the move will impact 35 employees out of the 229 based in ESPN’s Los Angeles studios. Those employees will be given the option to relocate to Bristol and keep their same jobs or accept similar roles. Employees who decline the move will be eligible for severance.
“Based on our current business needs, we are relocating the L.A.-based SportsCenter and soccer studio shows to ESPN’s Bristol headquarters, including the limited number of employee positions related to these shows,” ESPN said in a statement to SBJ. “The Los Angeles Production Center will continue to host ESPN’s NBA studio productions and provide office space to additional L.A.-based employees.”
The final SportsCenter to emanate from Los Angeles will air on Friday, May 16, a full 16 years since ESPN’s Los Angeles studios opened in April of 2009. Despite the move, ESPN will continue to air the 1 a.m. ET edition of SportsCenter, though it will be shot and produced from Bristol.
It’s unclear if late-night SportsCenter anchors Linda Cohn and Stan Verrett will make the move back to Connecticut.
Per SBJ, the move is unrelated to any potential acquisition of NFL Media, which is based in nearby Inglewood, California. The decision to shutter the Los Angeles SportsCenter was “entirely separate.”
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.