Suzy Kolber’s ESPN story stretched across 27 years, beginning when ESPN2 was only getting started. From there, she grew into a familiar face on the network, taking on some of the NFL’s biggest games along the way. For more than two decades, she was part of the fabric of ESPN. That was until June 30, 2023, when the network released her.
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Now, more than three years after her departure, Kolber finally opened up about what happened. Speaking with Sports Business Journal’s Richard Deitsch on his Sports Media podcast, she publicly addressed the experience.
“Probably the most emotional thing was Norby [Williamson] saying to me [ESPN] was not going to say anything,” she said. “I was the first person hired for the launch of ESPN2. I was the first person assigned to the X Games. I was part of Monday Night Football’s move to ESPN.
“I was part of some pretty big franchises. I was like, ‘You’re not gonna say a word? Not thanks for 27 years. Just acknowledge it?'”
Kolber later admitted it felt like a “bad breakup.”
The explanation behind her departure ultimately came down to the numbers. ESPN needed to cut a certain amount from its talent salary, and Kolber became expendable as ESPN had other anchors. The network eventually turned to Scott Van Pelt as her replacement on ‘Countdown’.
Kolber, now 62, was one of the bigger names caught up in ESPN’s 2023 cuts. Steve Young, Jalen Rose, Max Kellerman and Jeff Van Gundy were among the other prominent departures. Kolber was hosting Monday Night Countdown at the time, following years that had also taken her through SportsCenter, College GameDay, NASCAR, Grand Slam tennis, and horse racing. All that said, she had some idea that the pink slip might be coming.
Kolber recalled ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro giving her about a week’s warning. The conversation was gracious, she said, but the message was difficult to hear: her name was on a whiteboard of people who could be cut, and Pitaro couldn’t promise her anything. Later, sitting in her kitchen with her daughter, Kolber broke down in tears as the reality of it began to sink in.
Kolber said that the morning of the layoffs, ESPN executive Norby Williamson contacted her and eventually explained that she could not publicly disparage ESPN or risk losing the remaining year on her contract. She said that was when she “lost it,” given how long she had worked for the company and how carefully she had conducted herself there.
The emotional fallout lasted longer than the initial phone call.
Kolber said that watching Monday Night Countdown became difficult because the people on the show had felt like family. She compared the experience to a “bad breakup”, explaining that there was a period when she simply did not enjoy watching ESPN anymore.
However, long before she became one of ESPN’s familiar faces, Kolber was carving out her own path in sports journalism. After graduating from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications in 1986, she began building her resume in Miami.
She produced the late-afternoon sportscast at WTVJ-TV, a role that earned her a Sports Emmy in 1988, before working as a freelance producer for WPLG-TV and other companies starting in 1989.
By December 1991, Kolber was a weekend sports anchor at WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach, Fla. She stayed there until 1993, when she landed the break that changed the trajectory of her career: joining ESPN.
Kolber is now returning to sports media on her own terms
Kolber will host and executive produce ‘The Originals’, a new six-part series set to premiere September 15 at 8 p.m. ET on Scripps Sports Network.
The show will feature Savannah Bananas founder Jesse Cole, former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, ESPN reporter Lisa Salters, hockey star Hilary Knight, Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, and Mexican flag football standout Diana Flores.
Interestingly, former ESPN personality Jim Carr and media veteran Jon Leiberman are the executive producers.
For Kolber, the new series marks a fresh chapter after a difficult exit from ESPN. This time, she returns with a project she helps shape from behind the scenes as well as on-screen.