2007Legal / Business Practices forum
Payment practices and working conditions with ESPN productions
19 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.
DisputedParticipants disagreed and reached no conclusion. Read the findings as positions, not as an answer.
What the thread found
- ESPN has a reputation for slow payment to freelance vendors, with some reporting payment delays exceeding 30 days after invoice submission.
- Payment timelines from ESPN vary significantly depending on the producer involved, with some producers paying within weeks while others take substantially longer.
- Sports production departments at ESPN may have different expectations about job scope and requirements compared to standard production practices.
- Deal memos should explicitly define overtime, penalties, and payment terms before beginning work with ESPN.
- Some operators have reported receiving payment within 3 weeks for ESPN broadcast work, indicating that payment speed has potentially improved in recent years.
Depends on
- Reports are anecdotal and span multiple years with no systematic data on average payment times.
- Payment experience appears highly dependent on which producer and department within ESPN is involved.
- No consensus was reached on current payment practices, as experiences ranged from relatively quick payment to extended delays.
- The discussion conflates ABC, Disney, and ESPN experiences without clear distinction between entities.