James Pitaro Named New President Of ESPN, Replacing John Skipper
March 9, 2018 Leave a comment

The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, located in Orlando, FL.
Photo credit: Brazil Photo / Shutterstock
ESPN might be the worldwide leader when it comes to TV sports coverage, but for nearly three months, it was lacking in leadership at the top ranks. That is now set to change, as The New York Times reports that James Pitaro, previously the chairman of consumer products and interactive at Disney, is stepping in as the company’s president. Pitaro fills a position that had been vacant since December, when John Skipper stepped down suddenly, citing a substance addiction.
Pitaro has been a major player in the media industry for almost two decades. He got his start in 2001 at Yahoo, where he quickly climbed the ranks and became vice president for media. In 2010, he moved to Disney, the parent company that owned ESPN, and managed a business unit that included gaming. Since 2015, he had been serving as co-chairman of Disney’s consumer products division.
“Jimmy forged his career at the intersection of technology, sports and media, and his vast experience and keen perspective will be invaluable in taking ESPN into the future,” said Robert Iger, chairman and chief executive of Disney
“Some of the best experiences of my professional career were working with the sports business,” Pitaro added. “I always knew in my heart I would return. This is a dream come true.”‘
ESPN has been relatively successful in recent years from a fiscal standpoint, but challenges still lie ahead. The New York Times reported that Disney made $55.1 billion in revenue and $14.8 billion in operating profit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Media networks (primarily ESPN) had $23.5 billion revenue and $6.9 billion profit. To stay afloat, though, Pitaro will need to compete in an environment where cord-cutting is rampant and subscribers are dropping like flies.
Pitaro has pledged to try bold new things when ESPN’s situation calls for it. ESPN is already hard at work buying out assets from 21st Century Fox, including 22 regional sports networks. It’s also poised to launch ESPN Plus, a new sports streaming service, later this year.
“I come from the digital world, and spent most of my career building and investing in new media products,” Pitaro said.