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The talent exodus at ESPN is continuing as the spring and summer moves along, with Wednesday’s report from The Big Lead that Heather Cox is leaving the network after 22 years. Nothing has been made official yet, but Cox will reportedly follow Mike Tirico to NBC.
Cox has become a versatile sideline reporter for ESPN, working college football, men’s and women’s college basketball, NBA and WNBA games. A possible new gig for Cox at NBC would seem to be that network’s new Thursday night NFL package, which Tirico is expected to do play-by-play for with Michele Tafoya sticking to her typical Sunday night sideline work.
ESPN did announce recently that Sam Ponder will be returning to college football sideline work this year, including the Saturday night ABC telecast. So preparations for Cox’s exit appear to be underway in Bristol, which lends credence to any speculation that has yet to be made official.
It’s possible that all the talent leaving ESPN is a product of multiple contracts expiring at the same time. But veterans like Tirico and Cox should not have been allowed to leave too easily, so the grass appears to be greener (money and opportunities) for bigger name people elsewhere on the sports media landscape right now.
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