ESPN is now asking it’s 100 highest paid commentators to take a voluntary 15% pay cut in order to save the company money. The cuts are scheduled to last for three months, which is a much clearer time line than what was given to Disney executives when they had their pay cut.
According to Sports Business Daily:
“ESPN talent being impacted includes studio hosts like Stephen A. Smith (who makes a reported $8M per year) and Mike Greenberg (who makes a reported $6.5M per year), and game analysts like the highly paid Alex Rodriguez and Kirk Herbstreit, both of whom pull in seven figures per year.”
The goal is to avoid furlough for other ESPN employees if the commentators agree to the pay cut. Executives have already taken cuts in line with the Walt Disney Company cuts at 20% for VPs, 25% for Senior VPs and 30% for Executive VPs.
Those who make below six-figures are likely not going to be asked to take a pay cut.
So many companies are doing this right now and it’s the right thing to do. I hope the higher paid individuals will agree to the pay cuts so others can continue to keep their jobs for as long as possible.
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Source: Sports Business Daily, Google
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