Fagan wants to develop a project with Embassy Row, and is also working on a script for a TV seriesESPN IMAGES
ESPN's Kate Fagan is "leaving the network at the end of the year," after she "was offered a contract extension, but declined," according to Ben Strauss of the WASHINGTON POST. Fagan said if she stayed at ESPN, she "would have to be immersed in the day-to-day in sports," but she has found herself "more and more interested in other aspects of sports -- like how it connects to our culture." Fagan: "That was not going to be the big business of ESPN.” Fagan said that she "believed in ESPN’s journalism, but that certain structural limitations in mainstream sports media helped lead to her departure." She added, “I thought at one point that I wanted to do a show -- and could do a show -- that made women’s sports really cool. I thought there could be a show on some of the tangential topics -- LGBT issues and mental health. Five years ago I thought I could host a show that introduces new female characters to the women's sports world. This isn’t ESPN’s fault, but I’m not that naive now.” Among the "new projects Fagan is pursuing: Developing a show with the production company Embassy Row, and working on a script for a TV series based on the story of a Russian women’s basketball team run by a former KGB agent" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/19). Sportswriter Jane McManus tweeted, "Fagan's departure, along with Jemele Hill, Mike Wise and some other people who aren't as well known, marks a real end of an era for ESPN. They were iconoclasts who weren't just diverse in their roles, but who looked at sports in a smart and unique way" (TWITTER.com, 11/19).
