A tipster told Deadspin that ESPN is planning to lay off more than 400 employees today.

A source at ESPN confirmed to Deadspin that layoffs were planned, and while 400 seemed high, the number of layoffs will be "in the hundreds."

As Deadspin also points out, ESPN may need to cut costs because they have recently gotten rights to several live events (like the US Open Finals) which are very expensive.

ESPN gave us the following statement:


UPDATE: Deadspin has heard from several laid-off staffers. One staffer who worked at ESPN for almost 10 years said they were laid off "completely out of the blue" and that it would be "10% across the board." Another laid-off employee said that the layoffs are related to the profit margin and that ESPN has NOT met the number they need to meet.

From "Those Guys Have All The Fun" co-author:

If you've heard more about the layoffs, please email me: Lgoldman@businessinsider.com.