One of the biggest sports media stories of the 2020s has been the sprawling networks created by former ESPN stars who have left to go independent. Dan Le Batard did so more than five years ago now, and said this week that by axing him in January 2021, the Worldwide Leader did him a “huge favor.”
Upon exiting ESPN, the South Florida-based commentator formed Meadowlark Media with former ESPN boss John Skipper. Like the other departed stars of the network, the company is largely funded through licensing and sponsorship deals for the founder’s flagship show.
The Dan Le Batard Show has a sizable partnership with DraftKings, which was reportedly extended last year. Partly as a result of this financial safety net, the Meadowlark network birthed the breakout digital hit of 2025, Pablo Torre Finds Out.
In an appearance on PTFO this week, Le Batard offered a note of appreciation to the Worldwide Leader for forcing him to get uncomfortable and pursue the type of independent, journalistic properties he is most passionate about.
“It ended up being a huge favor that ESPN did me, because I never would have even imagined — never mind done — I never would have imagined what happened next,” Le Batard explained of his departure, “which is to create a safe space for the people I care about and the things I care about in a world I don’t recognize and didn’t see coming because it’s so unsafe. I did not see any of this happening five years ago.”
In the episode, Le Batard, Torre, and producer Chris Cote (whose layoff at ESPN infamously was the beginning of the end for DLS at the company), walked through some of the show’s past controversies. These include Le Batard’s shenanigans at the Clevelander hotel, where the show used to air, as well as the host’s rental of billboards in Akron taunting LeBron James after he left Miami for the Cavaliers.
But the far more serious issues came when Le Batard would take on powerful sports figures and even national leadership, including President Donald Trump.
Le Batard said that he feels even better about leaving ESPN in hindsight, having seen the way in which some corporate media figures have been threatened by the administration.
“For 40 years, I have worked to get to the kind of freedom that allows these people to be themselves in a safe space that less than ever in media, it seems, allows them to feel safe,” he explained.
The Trump administration has generated significant criticism in media circles for threatening ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, as well as the belief that it is cozy with Paramount owner David Ellison as he makes changes to CBS News and potentially CNN after the Warner Bros. Discovery purchase.
Meanwhile, PTFO has published investigations on Bill Belichick, the NFLPA, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the alleged betting ring that ensnared Terry Rozier and other NBA figures, to name a few. The podcast has led to substantive responses from many of these entities.
Le Batard contrasted this work with other news outlets in the U.S. right now.
“Free is expensive … the newsroom is now being run by billionaires who don’t care about the need for separation between the editorial board and the sales team,” he said. “And all of that stuff has been contaminated, and all of this stuff that we’re presently doing is not merely expensive. When you talk about the cost of journalism, journalism is no longer a good business.”
Le Batard seems to be referencing the Washington Post, whose business has cratered in the 18 months or so since owner and Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos took a more hands-on approach with the opinion section and newsroom staffing.
Some might find it contradictory to proclaim the media arm of a betting company to be a better partner than Disney-owned ESPN (which also employs Kimmel). Even Torre intentionally moved his show out from the DraftKings deal last year. But Le Batard said the sportsbook has given Meadowlark complete editorial freedom.
“There’ll be a number of people who say, ‘Get off your high horse here, you work for a gambling company, all of the money that anyone takes is polluted.’ But DraftKings allows us to be 100 percent independent. Not 99 percent independent,” he said.
“We have no partnership that compromised us. It is at the front of everything it is that I have chosen here, and has been chosen for me. Because as I said, without taking too much credit for being a visionary, ESPN forced me into this position. I would have never done it if they hadn’t pushed us out the door. It’s not anything that I was thinking of.”
Skipper departed Meadowlark last year, but Le Batard has said he remains on the company’s board. Beyond PTFO, the company also produces David Samson’s sports business show Nothing Personal and has put out several documentaries.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.