Dan Le Batard, a liberal sports host on ESPN, criticized the network for allegedly hiring and paying predominantly white individuals more than he deems appropriate since George Floyd's death in 2020. He cited several high-profile ESPN personalities including Joe Buck, Pat McAfee, and others to illustrate his point about racial disparity at the company. However, the article counters Le Batard’s claims by pointing out that Stephen A. Smith recently signed a $100 million contract with ESPN, and highlighting other black commentators who have been hired or retained by the network, suggesting Le Batard's premise is inaccurate.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Liberal sports host Dan Le Batard is complaining about white people again.
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Batard → complain → people
This time, he is expressing his frustration with ESPN paying certain white people more money than he'd like.
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he → express → money
"Since George Floyd, the company of ESPN and the country of the United States were promising some sort of change over the last five years.
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company → promise → years
But what has happened with the NFL Network and ESPN ... having put a whole bunch of white people in charge of how to select the next evolution of ESPN, this is what happened.
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what → happen → ESPN
I want to ask you guys if anyone is noticing this.
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anyone → want → this
Have you noticed that the people at ESPN who are getting the chances and big money ... are Joe Buck, Pat McAfee, Josh Pate, Rich Eisen, the Golics, Jason Kelce, Peter Schrager and the Mannings?
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who → notice → chances
"As the money flows in to fund [ESPN], that is now sitting out the political discussion that it's a whole lot of white people hiring a whole lot of white people and giving the money to a whole lot of white people ... it
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it → flow → people
Has anyone noticed that?
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anyone → notice → that
"
To answer his question, no. Most people have not noticed that.
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people → answer → that
For one, normal people don't count the number of white and black people on television.
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people → count → television
They don't care.
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They → care → ?
More importantly, however, people haven't noticed what Le Batard is describing because his premise is false.
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premise → notice → what
Consider the names Le Batard cites.
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Batard → consider → names
He lists Joe Buck and Pat McAfee among ESPN's highest-paid talents.
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He → list → talents
Last year, Smith signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension with the company.
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Smith → sign → company
Because McAfee signed a licensing deal, Smith is ESPN's highest-paid full-time employee.
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Smith → sign → deal
ESPN did bring back Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. this year, as Le Batard mentions.
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Batard → bring → Golic
But their inclusion in his argument is questionable because they returned on relatively minor deals to host a radio-only program.
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they → return → program
If Le Batard is going to mention them, he should also acknowledge that ESPN brought back Stan Verrett, a black commentator with a long history of toxic, embarrassing social media posts.
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ESPN → go → posts
The Mannings are also on a licensing deal, as are Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal, who host "Inside the NBA" during the NBA Finals.
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who → host → Finals
The point isn't that ESPN has failed to pay star white talent—it has.
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it → fail → talent
The point is that Le Batard has selectively cherry-picked those deals to construct an argument about racial bias that doesn't withstand even modest scrutiny.
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that → pick → scrutiny
In fact, there might not be another media network in the country, other than BET, that has prioritized excluding white people from its hiring practices as much as ESPN has over the past decade.
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ESPN → prioritize → decade
The "change" Le Batard describes is that ESPN no longer entirely excludes white men from the hiring and promotion process, as it once did.
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it → describe → process
After George Floyd died in 2020, talent agents recognized that ESPN would not promote any white male, regardless of his qualifications or fit for the role.
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ESPN → die → role
The company gave nearly every new promotion to a black employee.
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company → give → employee
Look at the commentators ESPN promoted during that period: Malika Andrews, Monica McNutt, Elle Duncan, Clinton Yates, Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike, Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, David Dennis Jr. and Christine Williamson.
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ESPN → look → period
ESPN has since recognized that this overtly racist approach was not sustainable, particularly because most of its audience is white men.
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most → recognize → audience
For the most part, the network now elevates and pays those whom management believes deserve it, regardless of their skin color.
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management → elevate → color
ESPN's most prominently promoted talent over the past year includes McAfee, Stephen A., Schrager, Jason McCourty, Josh Pate, Mina Kimes and Malika Andrews.
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talent → promote → McAfee
However, because that group is about 50% white, Dan Le Batard has an issue — or pretends to.
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Batard → have → issue
We don't find Le Batard's outrage genuine.
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outrage → find → ?
If he were truly concerned about a media network hiring too many white people, he would run his own media company far differently.
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he → hire → company
From what we can tell, Le Batard's Meadowlark Media has just one full-time black employee: a producer named Roy Bellamy.
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Media → tell → employee
Everyone else at his company, which may have up to 40 total employees, is white, and mostly male.
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which → have → employees
OutKick asked Le Batard that question on Thursday via text message:
"Hi, Dan.
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OutKick → ask → message
I have two questions:
- Why did you leave out all of the black employees ESPN recently hired and paid big money?
- You own your own media company, yet just one of your nearly 40 employees is black.
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one → have → employees
Why are you counting the skin colors of ESPN employees with such little diversity at your own company?
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you → count → company
By the way, happy to re-schedule that interview your rep scheduled with me any time."
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rep → re → me
Le Batard did not respond as of publication.
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Batard → respond → publication
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
