Despite all the great things that John Skipper did as president of ESPN from 2012-2017, it is normal for people to have regrets or wonder what could have happened if certain decisions were made.
On Part 3 of South Beach Sessions on Le Batard and Friends, Dan Le Batard and Skipper examined some of those possible regrets as part of what is now a 4-part series.
The first event that Skipper mentioned that he regretted was losing the rights to the World Cup. ESPN had the rights to the World Cup in 2010 and 2014, but eventually FOX won the rights to soccer’s premiere event from 2018-2026. Here is what Skipper had to say about that process:
“I regret losing the World Cup. One of my proudest accomplishments was getting the World Cup for 2010 and 2014 just three weeks into my job as chief content officer. I did see that the World Cup was going to become a huge event in the United States. To me, it is the world’s greatest sporting event. I wanted to give it its due on the air on ESPN, which we did. We lost it and it is now on FOX.”
Skipper also addressed the corruption that was going on at FIFA and how he thought the bidding process was not fair.
“I used to say about Sepp Blatter that the fact that his first name is short for septic and his second name is a receptacle for urine should tell you all you need to know about him and how he runs FIFA.
“FIFA was a dramatically corrupt organization. Indeed, people had been indicted for what had gone on in that process. I don’t think it was a fair bidding process for the 2018-2026 rights. I do not believe we lost in a fair manner. However, I still regret not figuring out how to overcome that. If somebody had said to me if you bribe this person, you would have got it. I would have said no.”
Skipper also mentioned that he regretted losing out on the rights to the NHL while acknowledging that NBC has been a good place for the NHL. He later went in-depth on that possible negotiation towards the end of the podcast:
“I’ve mentioned before, but another real disappointment was I was working with John Collins (NHL’s chief operating officer at the time) on the NHL deal and I thought we were quite close, we made a very aggressive bid. I expected to hear back from John that we could get there if you can sweeten this a little bit. John called me and said we decided to renew with NBC. It still stings a little bit. I was a pretty relentless negotiator and that was one where I thought I worked hard, I did the right thing, and it just didn’t happen. It was the right decision for them, but disappointing for me.”
Throughout Part 3, you will hear how Skipper became the president at ESPN in part to an answer he gave on an annual review, how he negotiated the NBA deal and the College Football playoff deal, and why the idea of ESPN The Phone just did not work.
