ESPN losing star reporter Tom Rinaldi is a "major blow" and a sign of how far the Disney-owned sports network has fallen

The Big Lead

Rinaldi, who was lured away by a hefty raise and new opportunities from Fox Sports, "is an unassuming dynamo who slowly but surely reshaped the role of on-air sports reporters through emotion and minor chords struck in production bays," says The Big Lead's Kyle Koster, adding. "He's the Willie Mays in this narrative. The person most suited to handle the delicate and depressed reaction at the Worldwide Leader, to offer hope with a nod of resilience, is out on Jan. 1, bound for the fast-charging Fox where he'll add to a steady trickle of what's become a trendy kinetic energy pipeline. There's no doubt the power balance is shifting with ESPN appearing more outwardly vulnerable than it has in a long time. Losing Rinaldi's steady hand and steady voice is a major blow. He is the best at his craft and capable of wearing many hats — and he'll get to try on some new ones per Andrew Marchand — but he represents something much more. An old-school guy who has never Googled his name, he carries himself with vintage assuredness that suggests he doesn't need a weathervane to know which way the wind blows. That he would surmise now is the time to leave the network he's called home since 2002 is reflective of a cold breeze that's rattled even the thickest, most secure Bristol branches."

ALSO:

• Fox Sports never imagined ESPN would allow Tom Rinaldi to reach the open market: “Tom is in the category of rare talent that you never think you will have the opportunity to get,” Fox Sports executive producer Brad Zager, who spent months trying to recruit Rinaldi over Zoom, tells The Athletic. “People like him just don’t come to the open market. You figure that contracts will be settled and long-term extensions will be signed long before you ever get a chance to grab someone like Tom Rinaldi. He is someone we always had the highest regard for but we felt like we would never have the opportunity to get him.”
• Amid ESPN's recent layoffs, Rinaldi said he didn't want his Fox Sports offer to be matched: "I’m going to keep any of the financial considerations private, but I can tell you with absolute earnestness that ESPN has been awesome in every phase from the moment I have arrived to the most challenging year that it has had, in 2020," Rinaldi tells the New York Post, adding: "This is not stepping away from something as it is stepping toward something.”
• ESPN's Chris Fowler says of his former College Gameday colleague: "He’s one of sports top storytellers ever. Tom’s humanity comes through in every piece."