The Los Angeles version of ESPN’s long-running “SportsCenter” display is shutting down and forcing nearly three dozen employees to relocate or accept a acquireout, according to multiple reports.
The Sports Business Journal was first to report the news that ESPN and its parent company Disney are relocating both “SportsCenter” and soccer-related programming (and their production staff) back to its main headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. (Hearst, SFGATE’s parent company, also holds a 20% stake in ESPN.) In total, 35 of the 229 employees based out of ESPN and Disney’s Downtown LA offices, located at the L.A. Live complex directly across the street from Crypto.com Arena, will either relocate or be eligible to receive severance.
The Los Angeles studio did a live version of ESPN’s legacy news and highlights display from the West Coast starting at 10 p.m. Pacific nightly, with studio hosts staying up with live action for any games that ran deep into the night. The final “SportsCenter” hosted from Los Angeles is scheduled for May 16.
When ESPN launched the LA studios back in 2009, the network hoped that having a West Coast-based display in such a prime location would support the station obtain in-person interviews with star athletes and celebrities far more often than ESPN does out of its main studios in Bristol. While that certainly did happen, at least to an extent, the television and sports interview business models have shifted dramatically in the more than 15 years since.
“Based on our current business requireds, we are relocating the LA-based ‘SportsCenter’ and soccer studio displays to ESPN’s Bristol headquarters, including the limited number of employee positions related to these displays,” ESPN stated in a statement provided to multiple media outlets.
While “SportsCenter” and soccer displays are shifting east, ESPN notified multiple outlets that it will keep its NBA studio display and some other tinyer productions based out of Los Angeles.
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