Le Batard, ESPN complete divorce

Dan Le Batard and ESPN announced they were parting ways on Thursday, finally making official what had been apparent for more than a year: Jimmy Pitaro’s more staid ESPN would rather not deal with him.

Le Batard had been cracking jokes about his grim future for months, and Thursday’s announcement hastened the timeline. Le Batard signed a four-year contract extension with ESPN in the summer of 2018, making a reported $3 million per year, although much of ESPN contracted talent has voluntarily taken pay cuts during the pandemic.

The Miami sportswriter turned TV and radio host was most recently in the news for paying producer Greg Cote’s salary out of pocket after Cote was laid off by ESPN. At that time, Le Batard’s producer said “You see the writing on the wall.”

Le Batard put his neck on the line in July 2019 when he defied Pitaro’s “stick to sports” policy to call Donald Trump a racist.

Talent and executive reached a detente shortly after, but it’s always been an uneasy one. In July 2020, Le Batard’s radio show was cut from three hours to two, a move he correctly called as a poor omen for his show.

Le Batard is an ESPN and sports media legend whose cable career might be best remembered for founding a TV show with his elderly father and selling his Baseball Hall of Fame vote to Deadspin. It seems likely that he’ll continue his radio show, which has a devoted fanbase, in some form.

In a statement, ESPN said Le Batard would remain at the network until January, and that Highly Questionable will continue after his departure.