John Skipper

John Skipper
Born John Skipper
Lexington, North Carolina, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater UNC-Chapel Hill
Columbia University
Occupation Executive chairman of Perform Group
Known for Tenure as President of ESPN
Children 2

John Skipper is an American television executive, former president of ESPN and current executive chairman of Perform Group.[1]

Career

Education and early career

Skipper attended Lexington Senior High School in Lexington, North Carolina. He then attended UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a bachelor's degree in English literature. After receiving his master's degree in the same field from Columbia University, he went to work for Rolling Stone, beginning as an executive assistant before being promoted. He also worked for Us and Spin before becoming senior vice president of Disney Publishing Group.[2]

ESPN

In June 1997, Skipper became senior vice president and general manager of ESPN the Magazine.[3] In October 2005, he was named as executive vice president of content. On January 1, 2012, he became president of ESPN Inc. and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks.[4][5] In 2017, Skipper's contract with ESPN's parent company, Disney, was extended through 2021.[6] In his time as President, Skipper was noted for negotiating large television rights contracts for sporting events, including a nine-year, $12 billion deal with the National Basketball Association and a $7.3 billion deal for the College Football Playoff, as well as all four tennis Grand Slams and golf’s Masters Tournament.[7]

On December 18, 2017, Skipper revealed that he had been struggling with substance addiction, and announced that he would be resigning as president of ESPN in order to focus on treatment. John Skipper told Sports Illustrated that a cocaine extortion attempt led to his ESPN departure.[8] His predecessor George Bodenheimer served as acting chairman of the company during the transition to new leadership.[4] In the wake of Skipper's announcement, the New York Times reported that he "didn’t have a reputation for partying or erratic behavior" among coworkers at ESPN or confidants in his personal life.[7]

Perform Group

On May 8, 2018, it was announced that Skipper had been hired as executive chairman of Perform Group, a British international sports media company. Skipper will operate out of New York City.[9][10]

Legacy

Skipper's time as President of ESPN was tumultuous. During Skipper's tenure ESPN lost nearly 15% of its subscribers and laid off more than 500 employees. Additionally, ESPN's TV ratings declined significantly across the board and the network endured criticism from some quarters over the declining quality of its programming.[11][12][13][14][15]

Skipper's 2014 disregard of eSports as a "real sport", referring to them as a "competition" instead, has been negatively noted by various websites.[16][17][18][19][20]

Personal life

Skipper is married and has two children.[3]

References

  1. ↑ A.J. Katz (8 May 2018). "Former ESPN Chief John Skipper Joins Streaming Sports Media Company Perform Group". AdWeek. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Lexington native to head ESPN". Winston-Salem Journal. November 23, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "John Skipper". Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  4. 1 2 Littleton, Cynthia (December 18, 2017). "ESPN Chief John Skipper Steps Down, Citing Substance Addiction Problem". Variety. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  5. ↑ Dan Gartland (8 May 2018). "Former ESPN President John Skipper Lands New Job After Resigning Abruptly". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Ahiza Garcia and Brian Stelter (14 November 2017). "ESPN chief John Skipper gets contract extension". CNN Money. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 Joe Drape and Kevin Draper (22 December 2017). "A Sports Titan's Strange and Sudden Abdication". New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  8. ↑ https://www.si.com/tech-media/2018/03/15/john-skipper-left-espn-president-after-cocaine-extortion
  9. ↑ Matt Bonesteel (8 May 2018). "Former ESPN president John Skipper lands new job at global sports media company". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Cynthia Littleton (8 May 2018). "Former ESPN Chief John Skipper Joins Len Blavatnik's Perform Group as Chairman". Variety. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "ESPN keeps hemorrhaging subscribers". NYPost.com. May 30, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ Maese, Rick (December 18, 2017). "ESPN President John Skipper resigns, capping a tumultuous year for network". Retrieved December 24, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  13. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (November 9, 2017). "New Layoffs Expected at ESPN (Report)". Variety.com. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  14. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "ESPN may be nearing new round of layoffs; source says 'it's not going to be pretty'". WashingtonTimes.com. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  15. ↑ "SC6 at 3 Months: Michael Smith and Jemele Hill Haven't Saved ESPN SportsCenter Ratings Yet". TheBigLead.com. May 9, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  16. ↑ Schwartz, Nick (September 6, 2014). "ESPN's president says that eSports are not 'real sports,' and he's wrong". USA Today.
  17. ↑ Hillier, Brenna (September 8, 2014). "ESPN boss says eSports are not "real sports"". VG247.
  18. ↑ Reahard, Jef (September 8, 2014). "ESPN boss: E-sports aren't sports". Engadget.
  19. ↑ Tassi, Paul (September 7, 2014). "ESPN Boss Declares eSports 'Not A Sport'". Forbes.
  20. ↑ Gera, Emily (October 1, 2014). "Does eSports need ESPN before the mainstream accepts it?". Polygon.
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