“Grim time in the regional sports network business,” as layoffs hit Monumental Sports Network

At least four Monumental Sports Network employees have been let go by the Ted Leonsis-owned operation. The cuts seem to have targeted Monumental’s digital content operation the most, reports Awful Announcing. The four are:

• Brian McNally, a senior director for digital coverage at Monumental who had worked at the network and its predecessor, NBC Sports Washington, for eight years,
• Tyler Byrum, a digital content specialist and on-air contributor whose time at Monumental and NBC Sports Washington dates back to 2016,
• Ethan Cadeaux, another digital content specialist who focused on Washington Capitals coverage and joined NBC Sports Washington in 2018,
• Bijan Todd, a Wizards reporter and digital content producer for Monumental

It goes without saying, continues Awful Announcing,”but it is a grim time in the regional sports network business. Main Street Sports Group, owner of the FanDuel Sports Networks, is preparing to shutter its entire portfolio of channels when the current NBA and NHL seasons conclude. The company has already sent WARN notices to employees. (The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification – WARN  Act helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs.)

The Monumental layoffs are another blow to sports coverage in Washington, D.C., states Awful Announcing, coming just weeks after The Washington Post shuttered its sports desk entirely.

According to its website, since its founding in May of 2006, Awful Announcing has been “an invaluable source of news and commentary related to the sports media industry, along with sports in pop culture.”

The site was founded by Brian Powell, a graduate of James Madison University and a Maryland native. in 2006. Powell launched AA as a hobby and it quickly took off in the early sports blogosphere. At its start, Awful Announcing’s focus was the on- and off-air lowlights of the sports media world, both skewering and poking fun at broadcasters across the country.

In 2010, Awful Announcing was acquired by the Bloguin Network, led by Ben Koo. Over the coming months, the focus of AA began to include more news, analysis, commentary, and features, in addition to criticism of broadcasters and spotlighting of gaffes.