After the NBA suspended its season, ESPN implemented work-from-home procedures, including for its main campus in Bristol, Conn. “We did not miss a beat,” Pitaro said in praising his leadership team.ESPN Images
Reflecting on the night of March 11, when the NBA announced the suspension of its season:
We were as prepared as we could be for it at that moment in time. I’m pretty proud of how our team reacted on the fly. We really are at our best in those moments. Given all we’re dealing with personally and professionally, it may appear somewhat insensitive to even mention that, but I am just very proud of the professionalism of our team.
Pitaro
I think we felt as a group that if it was reported that any players tested positive, that that would probably be the tipping point. And then we would start to see suspensions, and possibly even cancellations, which is what has played out.
On communicating with staff:
We really emphasize innovation as an ESPN priority, and we’re seeing that coming to bear more so than ever right now. At a high level, we’re communicating consistently with our employees. We’re giving regular updates. We’re checking in with our teams. The dialogue is … 100% two-way. It’s vibrant right now. We’re really listening. We’re responding to what we’re hearing from our people. We’re doing it in real time.
On how sports will look and feel post-pandemic:
Fans have always been passionate about sports. Fan is short for fanatic. We’re passionate about our teams. We’re passionate about our players. As you know, I’m one of them. I’ve been devouring so many pieces from our incredible journalists over the past several days. And this is as good a time as any. I actually printed out one of them from a guy named Sambit Bal who’s editor-in-chief at ESPNcricinfo. I printed out a quote, a little segment from a piece that he ran: “At the simplest level, sports is the greatest distraction from our day-to-day troubles. At its most profound, it is the most joyful projection of the scale of human ability and ambition.”
I love that. I’ve read it several times, and bringing this back to your question, tying it together, I completely expect that that passion will remain even in light of the moment that we find ourselves in right now. And that’s why what we’re doing right now is so critically important. I also believe that when live sports return, they’ll come back strong.
