The trimming at NFL Network continues as on-air personalities Melissa Stark, Andrew Siciliano, James Palmer and Will Selva are all out, an executive with direct knowledge of the moves told The Athletic.
“As is normal course of business this time of year, we are evaluating our talent roster for the upcoming 2024 season and beyond,” NFL Network spokesperson Alex Riethmiller told The Athletic. “That process results in renewals, non-renewals and additions to our talent lineup depending on programming needs. To those departing talent, we give our sincere thanks and appreciation for their hard work and contributions to NFL Media.”
Stark was part of the network’s big event coverage and remains the sideline reporter for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”
Great 12 year run at @nflnetwork – will miss working with so many incredible people. I’ll see you on Sunday Nights this fall ❤️🏈 @NBCSports https://t.co/CX1oso67wh
— melissa stark (@melissastark) April 4, 2024
Siciliano was one of the main hosts on the network for years. Beginning in 2005, he gained popularity as the on-air conductor for DirecTV’s “RedZone” package before the platform lost the rights to the whip around to games to Google’s YouTube before last season.
NFL Network has been paring back costs in all sectors. It recently announced it was moving its popular show, “Good Morning Football,” from New York to its Los Angeles studios. Thus far, only Jamie Erdahl said she would go west with the program, while Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt and Jason McCourty have yet to announce their intentions. Selva provided news updates on the program, among his other roles. GMFB, which also was not sent to the Super Bowl this year, is on hiatus until it restarts again in late August.
Palmer was a national reporter for NFL Network. He had been with the network for nearly a decade.
Some personal news. NFL Network has bought out my contract and my time there has come to an end. It was a dream job and I loved every minute of it. And that's mostly because of the people that I got to work with and the friendships that will last well beyond any "job". I'm…
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) April 4, 2024
My incredible run at NFL Network has ended after more than a decade. I've had the honor to be part of Good Morning Football since day one, working with the most talented crew in the biz to deliver the news while hopefully giving the viewers a laugh. I'm overwhelmed with…
— Will Selva (@WillSelvaTV) April 4, 2024
The NFL has been in talks about selling the network and other NFL Media assets to ESPN in an equity swap. A resolution, either way, is expected in the coming months.
Required reading
- What ‘Good Morning Football’ moving to L.A. means for the show
- NFL in advanced talks with ESPN to acquire equity stake in network: Sources
- ESPN is open for business: How the coming months will shape the sports TV giant’s future
(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
