Sam Ponder’s nearly 13-year run at ESPN came to an end this week. On Thursday, The Athletic reported that the network has parted ways with the “Sunday NFL Countdown” host.
Ponder is believed to have had time remaining on her seven-figure contract. However, the company’s ongoing effort to explore opportunities to cut costs as the end of the organization’s fiscal year draws near prompted the decision to fire the TV host, according to The Athletic. A source familiar with Ponder’s dismissal also told Fox News Digital that it was a business decision.
The former Kentucky swimmer and the host of OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast floated a different theory about ESPN’s decision to move on from Ponder.
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Samantha Ponder speaks at Inside the Game Q&A presented by IFA on February 2, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Thaddaeus McAdams/WireImage)
“So ESPN fires Sam Ponder, the only woman at the network who was publicly said men don’t belong…