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Most sports fans aren’t super invested in the internal power struggles that dictate who calls the shots at ESPN, but it’s hard not to be intrigued by the one involving Norby Williamson, who has been let go by the network a few months after getting embroiled in a feud with Pat McAfee.
ESPN has long positioned itself as “The Worldwide Leader in Sports,” and it’s hard to argue that’s still not the case in this day and age. With that said, the network has become increasingly irrelevant in the Social Media Age and is constantly readjusting its approach to programming in an attempt to compensate.
One of the most notable moves it’s made in recent years was the decision to bring The Pat McAfee Show to ESPN in the hopes viewers would be drawn to the unfiltered and irreverent strategy Pat McAfee and Co. have harnessed while building a pretty impressive media empire of their own.
However, based on some accusations the show’s eponymous host floated earlier this year, there are some people at ESPN who aren’t thrilled with the program—including Norby Williamson, who kicked off a career spanning close to 40 years when he landed a job in the mailroom in 1985 before working his way up to the corporate ladder en route to becoming one of its most influential executives.
In January, McAfee asserted Williamson was leaking incorrect ratings to the press in an attempt to undermine his show, and while ESPN came to the defense of the man who served as its Executive Editor and Head of Event and Studio Production at the time, the retired punter doubled down by lumping him into the group of “old hags” who failed to appreciate his vision.
It appears McAfee will be getting the last laugh, as The New York Post reports ESPN has decided to part ways with Williamson after 39 years (two years before his contract was slated to expire).
The network declined to comment on the situation, but the outlet says he was pushed out by Content President Burke Magnus for not possessing “a vision that aligned with ESPN’s long-term strategy.”
Something tells me McAfee will have something to say about the matter the next time his show airs.