Rob Dauster and Craig Calcaterra Out Amid Layoffs at NBC Sports Digital
Rob Dauster and Craig Calcaterra have been long-time writers for NBC Sports' blog division and both announced the company had let them go on Monday. Dauster and Calcaterre had each been with the company for more than a decade.
Dauster wrote for College Basketball Talk, NBC's dedicated college basketball blog. He has long been a prominent and respected voice in the space and his release is rather shocking.
Ten years ago, NBC Sports took a shot on me when I was nothing more than a bartender with a blog. It was a fun decade, and we did some really great things there, but COVID has come for me. Today was my last day running CBT. I was laid off this morning.
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) August 3, 2020
Anyone hiring?
Calcaterra has been at NBC Sports for 11 years running Hardball Talk. He and fellow writer Bill Baer were both let go on Monday:
Some personal news: After 11+ years at NBC, @HardballTalk is officially no more and I'm out with it. I want to thank @NBCSports for a hell of a ride and HBT readers for riding along.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 3, 2020
My ride's not over, though. Updates soon, but you're not rid of my opinions just yet.
We're not sure what this means for NBC Sports moving forward but it sure looks like the company is cutting back on its blog division. The fact that two seriously respected, long-time employees were let go is a bad sign for the rest of the staff. Both writers had substantial followings and likely generated solid engagement.
Both should generate interest from other outlets when the world goes back to normal.