Keith Olbermann Gone from ESPN Again

Keith Olbermann and ESPN have parted ways yet again …

As reported at THR, television personality Keith Olbermann and ESPN are parting ways for a second time. It turns out that Olbermann is even too liberal for what I like to refer to now as LESPN, liberal entertainment sports programming network. ESPN is looking to cut $100 million from next year’s budget and $250 million from 2017′s budget. According to BI, network executives had asked Olbermann to ditch his leased Times Square studio, where his program is produced for ESPN2, and either move to the network’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut or to Los Angeles, However, the biggest sticking point appeared to be that  as a part of an extension of his 2 year deal, the network wanted him to stop offering commentary on his program. What, Olbermann not allowed to spew his venom? No way, that was a deal breaker. But when one thinks about it, opinion commentary and criticizing sports hardly seems like a money maker for those in the sports entertainment industry. Especially when these days ESPN is not the only game in town.

Keith Olbermann is exiting ESPN once again.

The television personality, who rejoined the sports network in August 2013, won’t be renewing his deal to anchor his ESPN2 program. The news follows a THR report on July 1, noting that ESPN management floated an ultimately unworkable caveat: that Olbermann cease engaging in commentary.

“Keith is a tremendous talent who has consistently done timely, entertaining and thought-provoking work since returning to ESPN,” the network said in a statement. “While the show’s content was distinctive and extremely high quality, we ultimately made a business decision to move in another direction. We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another promising endeavor.”

Press Release from ESPN:

“Keith is a tremendous talent who has consistently done timely, entertaining and thought-provoking work since returning to ESPN. While the show’s content was distinctive and extremely high quality, we ultimately made a business decision to move in another direction. We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another promising endeavor.”

Although I admit there is very little that I agree will politically with Keith Olbermann, he did have some solid commentary when it came to sports and the actions of sports athletes. None could I agree more that when he spoke out against domestic violence and asked viewers to boycott the NFL Draft because of  Jameis Winston and not watch the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight because of Mayweather’s long past of domestic violence charges,