Should fired ESPN hosts blame the network’s politics for the layoffs?

On Thursday’s “Pat & Stu,” the guys discussed the downfall of ESPN. The sports network recently went through a huge round of layoffs, firing around 100 people, many of whom were on-air personalities.

“It was a lot of people,” Stu Burguiere said. “But you wonder … you build a network into a place in which it has 100 air personalities and when your business changes a little bit, it’s hard to maintain the structure.”

In the age of digital, cable networks are struggling as they lose customers. ESPN seems to think that dragging politics into sports will help it get back on track. Stu pointed out that live sports is one of the last things that people still want to watch on TV in real time, and they don’t want it ruined by politics.

He also talked about a National Review article that analyzed the problem.

“Fundamentally, people watch sports as an escape from less entertaining aspects of life, from politics to business,” NR’s Dan McLaughlin wrote. People don’t want to turn on a game and hear liberal talking points, but politics has taken over the sports network.

“It’s not a good idea to mix those things like they are [on ESPN],” Stu said.

To see more from Pat & Stu, visit their channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “Pat & Stu” with Pat Gray, Stu Burguiere and Jeffy Fisher weekdays 5–7 p.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.