Another familiar face is leaving ESPN as another wave of cutbacks trickles throughout the network.
SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett told Front Office Sports it’s “last call” for him, ending a 23-year run at ESPN. Since 2009, Everett and Stan Verrett have co-hosted the late edition of SportsCenter from Los Angeles.
“ESPN changed my life, but now it’s time for me to change my life,” he said in a statement to FOS. “Time to write a new chapter.”
Everett, 61, endeared himself to viewers with humorous commentary that often included pop-culture references. His home run call, “Bartender, Jack,” was a fan favorite.
Front Office Sports cited one source saying Everett had been given a contract with a pay cut, similar to the one that Kenny Mayne rejected in 2021. Another source told the outlet his contact, signed in July 2021, was simply not renewed.
Everett interviewed with ESPN in 1999 but did not get the job then. He was brought on in July 2000 after 15 years as a local television reporter/anchor in Hawaii and started on ESPN News.
FOS reported earlier this week that NHL analyst Chris Chelios was another casualty of the efforts of every department within ESPN to reduce spending. Parent company Disney plans to cut spending by $5.5 billion worldwide.
Meanwhile, ESPN hired Pat McAfee to be their early afternoon anchor this fall at an annual salary of roughly $17 million.
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
