President of HBO Sports Peter Nelson is leaving the network, as first reported by Awful Announcing.
The sports media blog further states Nelson is leaving on his own terms and is not part of a round of layoffs which were also announced Monday. HBO is cutting between 150-175 employees, part of nearly 800 staffers who will be laid off by parent company WarnerMedia.
For Nelson’s departure, Awful Announcing points to HBO’s declining focus on their HBO Sports brand in recent years. HBO no longer offers live sports, having dropped boxing from its portfolio nearly two years ago. Its two biggest remaining sports labels are Hard Knocks and Real Sports. The former will premiere a new season Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Just two months ago, Nelson negotiated a multiyear extension for Hard Knocks to continue on HBO. Last week, Nelson was also prominently quoted in the HBO Sports press release announcing the premiere date of their upcoming Craig Carton documentary in the fall. According to Boxing Scene, Nelson’s departure won’t be immediate, with the HBO Sports president planning to leave his post within the next 30 – 60 days.
Nelson joined HBO Sports in 2011, later promoted to his current position at the end of 2015. Having been an integral part of HBO Sports for nearly a decade, Nelson’s most public moment with the network may have been earlier this year, when he entered a feud with Barstool president Dave Portnoy.
As Barstool attempted to negotiate a new deal for their popular Call Her Daddy podcast, Nelson reportedly intervened, making outrageous demands for the show’s now former co-host and his girlfriend, Sofia Franklyn. Franklyn ultimately left the company, while her co-host Alexandra Cooper stayed.
A replacement for Nelson at HBO Sports was not announced, but that decision will likely depend on how much the network plans to invest in future sports programming.