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Popular Sports Media Personality Ditches ESPN After 14 Years

Aug 6, 2019  •  Post A Comment

A well-known sports media personality ended his 14-year relationship with ESPN and will be exclusively a part of The Ringer. Sports Business Journal reports that Ryen Russillo, who has been dividing his time between the two outlets, is departing ESPN.

During the past year, Russillo, who turned 44 Monday, has hosted his podcast “The Russillo Show” on ESPN while also hosting the football-themed “Dual Threat” podcast on The Ringer, run by former ESPN regular Bill Simmons.

“Russillo signed a multiyear deal with The Ringer to do three of his ‘Dual Threat’ podcasts per week during the NFL season and twice a week in the off-season,” SBJ reports.

Russillo reportedly will also appear on other Ringer podcasts, such as Simmons’ weekly show, from February to mid-July.

“He’ll join other Ringer pods like the ‘Rewatchables’ and ‘Ringer NBA show.'” SBJ reports. “As part of the deal, he will be exclusive to The Ringer. His contract with ESPN ends Aug. 31, but it is not known if he will appear on any ESPN platform in the next three weeks. He starts at The Ringer in September.”

Russillo, a Massachusetts native, confirmed the move in a tweet he sent out Monday, writing: “I grew up on @SportsCenter and then to be on the actual set, my name on a show…have to remind myself at times how cool that is. Excited to try and limit Celts talk to 30mins w/ @BillSimmons.”

SBJ adds: “Even while producing podcasts for ESPN last year, Russillo was a mainstay on The Ringer. He appeared on Simmons’ podcast 20 times last NBA season, in addition to his work with ESPN. Those podcasts logged more than 2 million downloads. Russillo wrote and starred in an ‘NBA Support Group’ video for Ringer Originals that had 91,000 plays on YouTube and more than 700,000 views on Twitter.”

The report quotes Russillo saying: “This is not an anti-ESPN move. It’s a pro-Ringer one. I have wanted to pursue other things for a while, and Bill gave me this opportunity.”

One Comment

  1. aaaaaaaand……….no one noticed

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