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ESPN Begins Layoffs, Expected to Cut Baseball Anchor Karl Ravech
ESPN started notifying staff of cuts on Tuesday, with longtime announcer Karl Ravech among those expected to depart after more than three decades. The moves follow the network's January acquisition of NFL Network.
Jul 21, 8:31 AM·1m read2 sources
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ESPN began notifying employees of layoffs Tuesday morning. Karl Ravech, who joined the network in 1993, is expected to be among those cut after more than three decades there. , though the network was starting to reach affected personnel, according to a network source.
Post by @TheAthletic on X
Ravech called Monday night's Phillies-Dodgers broadcast and has not responded to a text seeking confirmation. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand first reported the expected layoff. Ravech arrived at ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor.
He later called college basketball, anchored Baseball Tonight, hosted onsite World Series coverage each October and served as the play-by-play voice for Sunday Night Baseball from 2022 to 2025. He has been involved in ESPN and ABC’s Little League World Series coverage since 2006. NFL analyst Ryan Clark was the first to be let go on Monday.
The network had planned to inform him Tuesday but accelerated the process after media inquiries, pulling him from NFL Live; he did not return to the program. Among others laid off Tuesday were NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, injury analyst Stephania Bell and studio anchor David Lloyd.
The cuts are expected to largely affect personnel who joined from NFL Network after ESPN purchased it in January, when the NFL took a 10 percent stake.
