There were a few warning signs earlier this year when longtime media executive John Skipper departed Meadowlark Media, the production house he co-founded with Dan Le Batard in 2021.
As a result, many (including Bill Simmons) wondered whether the former ESPN president left the Miami-based company on bad terms. Shortly after, Le Batard released a statement patching over the sudden exit. Skipper remains an analyst on the company’s monthly Sporting Class business and media podcast hosted by Pablo Torre, but both cofounders have been largely quiet about the change.
This week, Le Batard finally addressed Skipper’s departure publicly in an interview with Barrett Media. The former ESPN host and columnist revealed that Skipper remains on the Meadowlark board and will continue to assist the company.
“We have an assortment of people who have been carrying the load in his [Skipper’s] dilution — not his absence,” Le Batard said. “He’s still doing The Sporting Class for us. He’s still a board member, and he’s still somebody who’s going to be helping us in places where his skill set demands it.”
Skipper also served as an advisor for Unrivaled, the startup 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, as it pursued its first media rights deal.
In the interview with Barrett, Le Batard also gave his most extensive public comments on the reduced role taken on by Jon “Stugotz” Weiner this year. Stugotz, who launched The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on local Miami AM sports radio two decades ago, took his podcasts independent this spring and launched his own YouTube channel. His role on the Le Batard Show has been minimal since.
“Stugotz wants to concentrate on doing God Bless Football five days a week because it’s his and he owns it,” said Le Batard. “After 20 years partnering with someone, he wishes to also partner but do some solo stuff. I totally understand that, totally support it, and am excited to see what he makes of that.”
Even by media standards, Meadowlark has undergone a lot of turnover this year. Alongside the personnel changes, the company re-upped its licensing and sponsorship deal with DraftKings. Le Batard appears hopeful that the path ahead is clear and that Meadowlark is on stable footing.
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.