ESPN Restructures Content Division, Elevates Mike McQuade to Sports Production EVP

ESPN has unveiled a new leadership team as part of a restructuring of the network’s content division.

The structure, which is designed to “improve collaboration, centralize functions, create better alignment, and redeploy resources to areas of growth,” has taken input from nearly 75 company leaders at all levels, as well as organizational experts, since May.

Mike McQuade, a 37-year veteran of the network, has been promoted to executive vice president of sports production, where he will be tasked with overseeing the network’s sports-specific production and studio shows. McQuade will relocate to ESPN HQ in Bristol, Connecticut.

David Roberts will transition to overseeing the sports, news & entertainment team, which will include non-sport specific studio shows, such as “SportsCenter,” “First Take,” “Get Up,” “The Pat McAfee Show,” “ATH,” and “PTI.”

Kaitee Daley will lead a newly formed Digital, Social & Streaming Content team as the company streamlines the three teams and its cross-platform strategy as it prepares for the network’s DTC future and Freddy Rolón will oversee the international production, ESPN Deportes, international editorial and international business operation teams.

Additionally, ESPN’s statistics and information (SIG) group will be divided into two functional areas: research, which will be led by Maria Soares, and statistics and analysis, which will be overseen by Nicole Pelaez-Dandrea under Daley’s supervision.

“With these moves, I believe we will be more strategic, collaborative and nimble, as we continue to excel in every area and function,” ESPN content president Burke Magnus said in a memo to staff on Monday. “We remain committed to employee development, and the restructure will result in new positions or promotions for people who are expanding their responsibilities or taking on new challenges.”

Magnus’ direct reports will include Roberts, McQuade, Daley, Rolón, original content senior vice president Brian Lockhart, content operations SVP Chris Calicinari and content business operations VP Nick Parsons, who will reach out to their respective teams with more information.

As part of the reorganization, Magnus noted that some ESPN employees would no longer be with the company.

“I understand how difficult change and shifts can be. With this reorganization, we have set up the Content organization to best operate now and in the future, while creating opportunities for colleagues across the organization to grow and thrive,” he added. “We will continue to tweak the structure to reflect the constant evolution of our business, and all of us should embrace change. Our Content team is the industry leader, and these moves will only enhance our strong position, further our mission of serving sports fans, anytime, anywhere, and continue our ability to drive value and results for The Walt Disney Company.”

More to come…