ESPN’s flagship show is making a seismic move, relocating its Los Angeles-based SportsCenter back to its headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, as first reported by Mollie Cahillane of Sports Business Journal. This transition will also affect the Los Angeles-based soccer programming, while ESPN’s NBA shows will remain on the West Coast. Per Cahillane, 35 out of the 229 employees at ESPN’s Los Angeles studios will be impacted; they have the option to relocate to Bristol to retain their current positions or accept similar roles. Employees who choose not to move will be eligible for severance.
ESPN confirmed in a statement to SBJ, “Based on our current business needs, we are relocating the L.A.-based SportsCenter and soccer studio shows to ESPN’s Bristol headquarters, including the limited number of employee positions related to these shows. The Los Angeles Production Center will continue to host ESPN’s NBA studio productions and provide office space to additional L.A.-based employees.” The final SportsCenter from Los Angeles will air on Friday, May 16, marking 16 years since the opening of ESPN’s Los Angeles studios in April 2009. Even after the move, the 1 a.m. ET edition of SportsCenter will continue airing, but it will be shot and produced from Bristol.
The fate of late-night SportsCenter anchors Linda Cohn and Stan Verrett regarding their potential move back to Bristol remains unclear. Additionally, per SBJ, this relocation is not connected to any possible acquisition of NFL Media, which operates nearby in Inglewood, California; the decision to close the Los Angeles SportsCenter was deemed “entirely separate.”
