BSO was the first to report that Rachel Nichols was being taken off the air permanently by ESPN and her show THE JUMP would also be canceled and replaced with a show that looks just like THE JUMP but with different people.
Nichols has a $1.5 million yearly salary with ESPN, and if she chooses to, she will get paid all her money until her contract runs out in late 2022 or early 2023.
BSO sources tell us that Nichols will have multiple suitors if and when she becomes a free agent.
She won’t be out of work for long, which is why she appears to be taking the benching in stride. Many in the industry feel like Nichols didn’t say or do anything wrong when she spoke up about Maria Taylor getting her NBA Finals gig because ESPN needed a diversity hire.
The fact that her conversations were secretly recorded actually will work in her favor.
There is some thought that after her contract is up that she might sue ESPN. If she was to agree to a buyout, I am sure the language will include something making sure that she can’t bring a lawsuit against them for invasion of privacy.
As I stated in the previous post, it wasn’t the NBA, NBA players, or Ex-players that worked with her that were pressuring ESPN to make this move, but black employees behind the scenes who wanted to know how ESPN could preach diversity and caring about their voices, but still have Nichols in a prominent position at the company.
Nichols also wasn’t very fond of how ESPN didn’t have her back in the midst of all this drama, considering ESPN employees leaked the audio.
Where would you like to see Nichols go next, or do you want to see her at all anymore?
Flip the page for her reaction at being benched by ESPN.