Layoffs have come to the sports division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Per John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 people were let go on Thursday. The job losses hit Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, and the Atlanta studio, with the first two divisions experiencing most of the layoffs.
Between the dismissals and open roles that will not be filled, the WBD Sports staff was reduced by roughly 10%.
Via SBJ, here’s the email sent out by Chair & CEO Luis Silberwasser.
In an email sent to WBD Sports employees this afternoon, WBD Sports Chair & CEO Luis Silberwasser acknowledged that it had been “an emotional and challenging day for everyone.” But he also said that WBD Sports needed to make the cuts to stay competitive in the sports media marketplace. His message was clear: it was a tough decision made amid a larger industry trend of cutbacks. “Our reality is we must evolve to position WBD and our Sports division for long-term success against an environment that includes a challenging macroeconomic forecast, as well as headwinds from the accelerated changes in our media industry and business model,” Silberwasser wrote. “Today’s actions are necessary as we transform and evolve our business, as we remain focused on delivering best-in-class product, talent and digital experiences for our fans.”
This isn’t the first round of layoffs to come to Warner Bros. Discovery this year. 14% of HBO and HBO Max employees were let go in August, and in October, 26% of personnel in the scripted, unscripted, and animation divisions were let go. This was quickly followed by a round in the Streaming Marketing division.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.