Weeks after a round of layoffs hit Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, a long-time executive has left the company.
Per the Sports Business Journal, WBD Sports US President Lenny Daniels is no longer with the company. CEO Luis Silberwasser confirmed the news in a memo on Monday also saying Daniels would help with transition.
WBD Sports announced the move, effective immediately, via an internal memo from Chair & CEO Luis Silberwasser late this afternoon. “While this change will take place right away, Lenny has agreed to work with me to ensure a smooth transition,” Silberwasser wrote. Daniels direct reports will move over to Silberwasser on an interim basis, the memo read. That includes long-time Turner execs like EVP/GM Tina Shah, Chief Content Officer Craig Barry, SVP/Talent Relations and Special Projects Tara August, Bleacher Report SVP/Content and Programming Bennett Spector and VP/Tech Operations Chris Brown.
Turner is near the beginning of long-term deals with MLB and the NHL, and will start a long-term deal with US Soccer in 2023. The company also has a long-term deal with the NCAA for March Madness that runs into the next decade, and is near the end of a long-term deal with the NBA.
The future of the NBA on WBD Sports will be a key issue for Daniels’ successor to deal with. Last month, the Inside the NBA quartet signed new long-term contracts with the company. Earlier this month, WBD president and CEO David Zaslav said “we don’t have to have the NBA” and saying a new agreement would have to be “a deal for the future.” It remains to be seen what that deal would look like, but a fresh face leading WBD Sports would seemingly align those negotiations with Zaslav’s view going forward.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.