VP/Corporate Communications Mike Soltys will leave the company in late June after a 43-year runESPN
Mike Soltys, ESPN’s second longest-tenured exec, has become a casualty of ESPN’s latest round of layoffs. The VP/Corporate Communications officially was informed this morning and will leave the company in late June after a 43-year run. Soltys is the first name to emerge from today’s layoffs, part of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s plan to cut the workforce by about 7,000 jobs. The first wave of cuts, which includes not filling some open positions, hit Disney last month. This second wave will affect an unknown number of ESPN employees this week. A third wave of cuts will occur in the summer; those also will involve ESPN workers. Layoffs will hit ESPN’s on-air talent after those summer cuts. The well-liked and well-respected Soltys is an ESPN lifer having worked for ESPN for 98% of the network’s history. ESPN’s founder Bill Rasmussen brought him on board in 1980 as an unpaid intern. In the ensuing four-plus decades, Soltys has touched every aspect of ESPN’s communications strategy. Soltys’ departure will leave a gaping hole in ESPN’s communications department, as he has countless deep relationships with media who cover the network. He oversaw all publicity for ESPN’s U.S. networks. Currently, he oversees publicity around ESPN’s news operations and college sports coverage, in addition to ESPN PR’s social media and online feeds. Outside of ESPN, Soltys chairs the board for a Connecticut-based food organization called Bread for Life, advises Youth Journalism International and is a mentor for his alma mater, UConn. Previously, he served on the board for the Bristol Family Center, the Southington Chamber of Commerce and a sports information/marketing advisory board for the Univ. of Hartford.
SOCIAL MEDIA REAX: Soltys's impending departure quickly created some waves on Twitter. The Athletic's Richard Deitsch wrote, "In all my years dealing with ESPN, Soltys was always professional. Always. Most importantly for them: He was a fountain of institutional knowledge. He believed deeply in ESPN. Clear-eyed about the co. but a genuine believer. He also ferociously defended talent. Brutal decision." Author Jim Miller: "One of the great career rides in ESPN history; one of the best humans as well. @espnmikes didn’t breathe in oxygen — he inhaled those four initials. Awful loss." White Tee Partner's LeslieAnne Wade: "Bad/sad PR move. @espnmikes recognized as one of the forever best in the business. Impossible to think of him leaving @ESPN with anything short of a parade."
