Over the years, Yahoo has seen a lot of layoffs, including on the sports side. The latest round of Yahoo layoffs took place this week, and that impacted one of the longest-tenured Yahoo Sports voices still there, MMA and boxing columnist Kevin Iole. Iole, who had been working at Yahoo since 2007 and had been a key figure on their combat sports coverage in particular, tweeted a thread about that Friday:
I want to thank Johnny Ludden, Joe Garza and Armando Botello for everything. They have been amazing co-workers. We have had amazing writers on our staff and it was a privilege to work shoulder to shoulder with them for these years.
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) December 1, 2023
I should point out many of my friends I've worked with along the way, including Cody Brunner, Dave Meltzer, Dave Doyle, Steve Henson, Jay Hart, Al Toby, Adrian Wojnarowski, Pat Forde, Jeff Passan, Tim Brown (more)
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) December 1, 2023
I will be eternally grateful to Dave Morgan, who took a chance on my in early 2007 and put me into what has been a dream job. I owe such much to Dave that I'll never be able to repay.
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) December 1, 2023
Finally, thank everyone who read my work and reached out with praise or criticism. It all meant a lot. This is not the end for me, but hopefully, the start of a new chapter. Until we meet again …
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) December 1, 2023
Many paid notable tribute to Iole and his work. Here are some of those:
Best boxing and MMA writer/reporter in the business. Prolific content creator, a total pro and incredible friend. His YouTube channel is a must watch for combat sports fans. https://t.co/967Jz791Fs https://t.co/bjcm1tJA7N
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) December 1, 2023
Can’t believe the news at Yahoo of the laying Kevin Iole among others.
Always a fan of Kevin and was honored to work with him for a short time and gain some of his wisdom.
Wonder what Yahoo does in terms of combat sports.
— Steven Muehlhausen (@SMuehlhausenJr) December 1, 2023
F***! Sorry to hear that pal.
— COFIELD (@stevecofield) December 1, 2023
So sorry to hear this man. Hang in there. You did amazing work for that place.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 1, 2023
I’m sorry to hear that, Kevin.
Congratulations on all of your great work over the years and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next for you.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) December 1, 2023
Man, Kevin. Really sorry to hear that. You do awesome work.
— Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PGH) December 1, 2023
As noted above, this is one of many changes at Yahoo over the years, including many rounds of layoffs. And Axios’ Sara Fischer reported in February that Yahoo was set to lay off more than 20 percent of its staff by the end of 2023, although those particular changes were largely about them getting out of the ad technology business. On the sports side, the company has lost some notable figures lately, and Iole joins that list. But they’ve also added quite a few names this year.
On the corporate side, Yahoo has also undergone significant transformation. The company was launched in 1994, went public in 1996, and was acquired by Verizon in 2016 (with that deal completed in 2017). In 2021, Verizon sold Yahoo (after much debate), AOL, and their other media businesses to private equity firm Apollo Global for much less than they bought them for. (That was also notable for Yahoo Sports, especially as it came with the end of the once-highly-prioritized and Yahoo-focused NFL streaming deal Verizon had, with those rights now used by the NFL themselves in NFL+.)
There’s since been some talk of Apollo Global finding strategic ways to emphasize the betting side of Yahoo even more, including a possible merger of Yahoo Sports with a sports betting company. But none of those have come to pass yet. So the overall Yahoo future is a little in flux, as is the future of Yahoo Sports. And it’s interesting to see them part ways with one of their longest-tenured figures as part of these latest layoffs.
Disclosure: post author Andrew Bucholtz worked at Yahoo Sports Canada from 2010-16.
[Kevin Iole on Twitter; image from a 2020 interview Iole did with Mike Wise on YouTube]
