Sports personality Pat McAfee has responded after ESPN axed 20 well-known reporters following their acquisition of the Pat McAfee Show.
McAfee was given a huge five-year, £68 million deal to join ESPN from FanDuel after his much loved YouTube show gained huge popularity in recent years.
Within weeks of McAfee's mega deal, reports suggested ESPN were set to make a huge number of cuts at the company in the hopes of saving 'tens of millions of dollars'.
Over the weekend it was revealed that Todd McShay, Max Kellerman, Jeff van Gundy, Jalen Rose, Steve Young, Suzy Kolber, Matt Hasselback and Ashley Brewer were among the names to lose their roles.
McAfee’s ESPN deal had already come at a peculiar time, with the company announcing more redundancies. Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger wants to cut 7,000 jobs worldwide, saving $5.5 billion in the process.
This has seen former Indianapolis Colts punter McAfee criticised, even from those who admitted to being fans of the show, claiming that him leaving FanDuel to join ESPN has come at the expense of some other beloved figures in the industry.
And McAfee has responded to the job cuts in a long statement.
He said: "I did a lot of reflecting about our show's journey while I was getting murdered on the internet today. All roads lead back to how honored I am to be the leader of such a talented group and how lucky I am to be a part of this team.
"We do our thing. We enjoy ourselves. And we never blink. Basement, box truck, world stoppage... you name it, the show rolls on.
"We're very pumped to be joining ESPN and our goal is that 'mass exits' are never a thing again. We hope to help that. Obviously that's a lofty goal, but that's how I truly look at life.
"I wish we could've worked alongside a lot of the folks that got released today. Some absolute legends, that we all respect, in the sports media world were trending today for losing jobs. That sucks, no matter how you slice it.
"We're gonna continue to control the things we can control, try to do daily sports coverage in an entertaining and informative fashion and be thankful for all of the opportunities that have been earned through a lot of hard work and commitment from the group of dudes I get to call coworkers.
"Have an incredible weekend. Cheers from all of us at #PMSLive."
McAfee's new show in ESPN is reportedly set to begin in the Autumn, and will follow the broadcaster's most-watched show, First Take with Stephen A. Smith.
