Earlier this month, television personality Dan Le Batard aired his last show on ESPN. His departure became news a month earlier, as he and the network mutually agreed to part company. Le Batard was vocally critical of ESPN’s stance (or lack thereof) on political matters, and ESPN’s firing of his longtime producer Chris Cote in the fall of 2020 further complicated the network-host relationship.
Now, some details have emerged on what Le Batard will be up to next — and it involves a reunion with another former ESPN colleague. In this case, that would be John Skipper, who previously served as the network’s president for 6 years. Deadline’s Dade Hayes reports that Le Batard and Skipper will work together on “an unnamed new content venture.”
What form that venture will take remains to be seen. Deadline’s report suggests that “one of its first goals will be to land a radio home for Le Batard,” and that that could involve a television or streaming (or both) component.
For his part, Skipper spent 27 years at ESPN before beginning his tenure at sports streaming site DAZN in 2018. DAZN has been increasing its areas of coverage gradually over the years. According to the Deadline article, executive Kevin Mayer — who headed ESPN+ during his time at Disney — is in talks with DAZN about a role there as well.
An up-and-coming sports network and a high-profile host looking for a new challenge don’t sound like a bad combination at all. One suspects we’ll be hearing more about this venture before too long.
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