Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports speculates that DAZN could be a landing spot for Dan Le Betard should ESPN let him go for his Thursday political rant.
Le Betard is friendly with DAZN executives John Skipper and Jamie Horowitz according to the article. It wouldn’t be at all surprising for DAZN to target Le Betard considering how outspoken the streaming service has been about getting important rights deals and well respected personalities.
Though DAZN hasn’t made a comment on the matter, the connection does make a lot of sense for both parties. Le Betard broke down crying on air after Skipper left ESPN in 2017 and, as his rant insinuated, he doesn’t feel that same passion for his current bosses.
ESPN has employed a strict no-politics rule since Jimmy Pitaro took over as ESPN president. Jamele Hill was let go from ESPN in 2018 for a similar rant against President Donald Trump, calling him a “white supremicist” and also for telling Cowboys fans to boycott the team after Jerry Jones said he’d bench players who knelt in protest for the National Anthem. Those comments were in 2017 when Skipper was still with ESPN. Skipper suspended Hill, whereas Pitaro was the one who bought out her contract.
The difference between Hill and Le Betard is Hill spoke out on social media, not ESPN broadcasting. However, Hill wasn’t the host of two incredibly successful shows (not named SportsCenter) and a podcast network. That said, it would be incredibly bold for ESPN to cut Le Betard loose. Though, ESPN would have no doubt created internal problems by not punishing him in some manner considering the rule set in place and how swiftly Hill was dealt her walking papers under Pitaro.
The first hour of Friday’s Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz featured no Le Batard. While the on air staff joked that it was because he was “eating a big breakfast,” it isn’t hard to jump to the conclusion that the eponymous host’s absence had something to do with his comments on Thursday’s show.
Le Betard signed a multi-year extension last year, and so a buy out would be quite expensive for ESPN. Neither he nor the company have commented on the rant, though ESPN has stood firm on the rule. “We are making it very clear to everyone internally, including Dan, that our policy hasn’t changed,” an ESPN source told Front Office Sports.
