Sports
Related: About this forumIt looks like another one of ESPN's most recognizable names is being shown the door
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/looks-another-one-espns-most-154837631.htmlEyebrows were raised when a report on Thursday from The Big Lead said the 61-year-old Berman was expected to retire when his contract expires sometime after the 2016 NFL season. Berman's agent spoke with Richard Sandomir of The New York Times and quickly shot that report down....
But while ESPN has jettisoned other big names in the past year, including Bill Simmons, Colin Cowherd, Keith Olbermann, and Jason Whitlock, Berman's over-the-top personality is too big for the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports to just cut the cord completely.
"I think he is too big a personality in ESPN history for them to just vote him off the island, hit the delete key," Miller said. "And I don't think that's his wishes anyway. So I think they're going to probably try to carve out some emeritus role with a variety of functions around that."
ProfessorGAC
(65,078 posts). . .putting Berman and his history with the network and Simmons, Whitlock, and Cowherd in the same sentence is ludicrous.
Olbermann, ok. The first hour long Sportscenter shows were Keith and Dan and they called it "The Big Show". He's a top shelf player at ESPN. So was Berman.
The rest just worked there.
Auggie
(31,174 posts)and ESPN, I believe, charges cable companies very high fees. This is a cost-cutting measure.
RockaFowler
(7,429 posts)I think you are right about saving money. He and Bob Ley have to be a fortune at this point.
Bob Ley is worth it, though. That guy does some great stuff on OTL. But Berman is really there part time now anyway. He only works during the NFL season and then only 2 days a week. I can't help but think that Trey Wingo would be better anyway on Sunday Countdown and Monday Night Countdown
Auggie
(31,174 posts)but I thought Berman and Jackson made a great team on the old (prior to NBC taking over SNF) NFL Primetime. The highlights were wonderfully produced/edited and Berman was entertaining as hell in his discriptions. Sunday Countdown had gotten over-produced within the last several years IMO and I hadn't been watching it.
Guess I don't watch ESPN unless they're airing any of the teams I follow. I could cut it from my cable package and not miss it.
I've seen Berman's house in Maui, BTW. Right on the water. Private. He won't be hurting.