ESPN Announces 300 Layoffs Due To 'Tremendous Disruption' From COVID-19

ESPN is reportedly cutting about 500 jobs and laying off approximately 300 employees due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company said it plans to cut about 10% of its global workforce, citing impact of the pandemic on its business, as well as "the tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports," the Associated Press reports.

"In the short term, we enacted various steps like executive and talent salary reductions, furloughs and budget cuts, and we implemented innovative operations and production approaches, all in an effort to weather the COVID storm," Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN's chairman, wrote in an email to employees. "We have, however, reached an inflection point."

Additionally, ESPN said it plans to leave 200 vacant positions open, the AP reports. The company didn't specify how many jobs would be cut from its Bristol, Connecticut campus, but did confirm that layoffs would not be concentrated to one location.

On-air talent, who mostly have personal contracts, are not expected to be heavily affected by the job cuts, although some contracts may be allowed to expire. ESPN currently employees 5,000 individuals, including 4,000 at its Bristol headquarters.

The sports network has recently focused more on direct-to-consumer options, including its ESPN+ streaming service, which currently has about 9.5 million subscribers, according to the AP.