Dan Le Batard Will Leave ESPN in January

ESPN personality Dan Le Batard is leaving the network in January "to pursue a new opportunity."

His next career opportunity is not known at this time.

The ESPN Radio finale of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz will air on Jan. 4. It will also be the last day Le Batard will appear on the TV show Highly Questionable, which will continue without him. 

“It was mutually agreed that it was best for both sides to move on to new opportunities and we worked together closely to make that possible,” ESPN executive vice president and executive editor Norby Williamson said. “We thank Dan for his many years and contributions to ESPN and wish him all the best going forward.”

New York Post's Andrew Marchand reported about the possibility of Le Batard leaving ESPN and hinted at their relationship souring. 

"He doesn’t seem to like them much," Marchand wrote. "They don’t seem to like him much. Le Batard and crew might as well move on to Spotify or SiriusXM or their own thing instead of both sides wasting each other’s time."

Le Batard's exposure has decreased as ESPN made staffing changes. His show was moved to an earlier slot and was cut by an hour.

ESPN announced a round of layoffs a month ago, which included Chris Cote, one of Le Batard's producers. Le Batard re-hired Cote and paid his salary plus a raise.

"In short, thank you, Disney and ESPN, for a quarter century of absurd blessings," he said in the release. "To our loyal army of concerned fans, and to everyone who walked along and played an instrument in our Marching Band to Nowhere, know that it is a very exciting time for us, not a sad one. And that you’ll be hearing our laughter again soon enough.”