TSN has informed the SportsCentre team that it will be consolidating the positions of story associates, story editors, and video editors into a single role. Consequently, the headcount will be reduced to 63 in these “merged” positions, leaving many full-time employees (FTEs) out of work or searching for alternative roles. Those potentially affected have been notified and offered a severance package, the details of which are yet to be determined. They have until mid-May to accept this offer. Should not enough employees accept the severance, further cuts will be necessary to meet the target numbers.
This restructuring is specific to SportsCentre and does not affect on-air talent.
The relevant union is involved, and more details are expected to emerge after their meeting.
This move by Bell aims to reduce costs by decreasing the number of FTEs, increasing reliance on hourly and freelance workers, and favoring versatile skills over specialization.
My thoughts are with those affected by these changes.
In other news, discussions are ongoing between Rogers and Amazon about Amazon taking over the Monday night NHL games starting next season for the remaining two seasons. Notable coverage of this topic includes:
John Shannon discussing the potential changes on Sekeres and Price in Vancouver. You can watch that segment here:
A detailed article in The Hockey News, available here.
An intriguing story reported by IMDB in the United States, accessible here.
Additionally, Michael Grange and Elliotte Friedman co-authored an insightful article about the current state of MLSE as Keith Pelley prepares to take over as CEO on April 1. Notably, the article includes the following details:
“Under the ownership agreement, the two telecom partners have the right to buy out Tanenbaum by July 2026, according to sources, and are expected to do exactly that.”
“When his exit strategy was originally planned back in 2011, it was timed to roughly correspond with Tanenbaum’s 80th birthday, which is in 2025. It turns out that even with 80 approaching, Tanenbaum has no interest in slowing down. In addition to reportedly hiring Resch and eying the WNBA, he hired highly respected international soccer executive Ivan Gazidis to run Kilmer Sports Ventures, which would suggest ambitions beyond women’s basketball in North America.”
These quotes reflect the complex nature of the negotiations and plans surrounding Tanenbaum’s future involvement with MLSE. While some sources suggest a buyout aligned with his 80th birthday, the actual circumstances remain uncertain. As noted by one industry figure:
“A lot of people think it’s done, Larry’s gone [from MLSE], but I’m not sure that’s the case,” said one sports industry figure familiar with the situation. “I don’t see Larry going quietly. People seem to think the story is written, and I just don’t. Larry is smart, Larry’s connected, Larry has money, and he knows how to raise money. We’ll see how it all plays out. Yeah, there’s the contract and there’s the agreement, and then there’s what will actually happen in reality. Are they all the exact same thing in this one? We’ll see.”
This unfolding story continues to captivate those following the business of sports.
Born and raised in Toronto, Jonah Sigel is currently based in Seattle, WA. An avid sports fan, Jonah took to writing about the sports media world back in 2004 with two young kids at home, a new job and a return to Toronto. The interest grew and grew to include the former website Torontosportsmedia.com, the twitter handle @yyzsportsmedia, the PressRow podcast and now the all new yyzsportsmedia.com
