Disney cuts hundreds of jobs across Pixar, National Geographic and ESPN in third round of 2026 layoffs

The Walt Disney Co. is eliminating several hundred positions on Tuesday, marking the third round of layoffs this year as CEO Josh D'Amaro pushes forward with a corporate streamlining effort. Pixar, National Geographic and ESPN are among the divisions most affected, according to multiple reports.

ESPN and the NFL integration

The cuts at ESPN are largely tied to the sports network's February deal with the NFL, which gave the league a 10% stake in ESPN and transferred control of NFL Network and NFL RedZone to the Disney-owned unit. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told staff in a memo Tuesday morning that the integration had prompted a careful evaluation of teams and resources.

Over the past several months, we've made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.

Pitaro noted that while most job impacts are tied to the acquisition, other parts of the company would also see notifications. The deal valued ESPN at $30 billion, according to an SEC filing cited by Deadline, while Variety reported the NFL assets contributed had an estimated fair value of $3 billion. A person familiar with the situation told Deadline that the ESPN cuts are nowhere near the scale of the 2023 layoffs, which saw several on-air names depart under former CEO Bob Iger.

On-air talent exits

Among the high-profile departures are longtime ESPN baseball play-by-play voice Karl Ravech, who joined the network in 1993, and NFL analyst Ryan Clark, a former player who had been with ESPN since 2015. NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero is also being let go, The Athletic reported. Clark was reportedly informed during Monday's episode of NFL Live that he was part of the layoffs and did not appear on the remainder of the program.

Broader Disney cuts

Beyond ESPN, just under 100 jobs are being cut across Disney Entertainment Group, with the majority at National Geographic, spanning the cable network, editorial and operations. About a dozen ABC News staffers are affected, along with isolated layoffs in other divisions. Pixar is the film studio seeing the most cuts, The Hollywood Reporter noted. The animation studio has released two films this year: the original Hoppers and Toy Story 5.

Previous rounds and CEO's vision

Tuesday's actions follow a January restructuring that unified all Disney marketing departments under Asad Ayaz, leading to some cuts, and a larger April round that impacted around 1,000 employees. D'Amaro, who succeeded Bob Iger as CEO earlier this year, addressed the April layoffs in a memo.

Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney. Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow's needs.

D'Amaro is not expected to issue a new memo for the current round, a source told Deadline. The cuts are part of the "One Disney" structure the CEO is implementing.

Financial pressures

ESPN, now its own division within Disney, faces challenging economics as pay-TV subscribers decline and sports rights costs rise. The network launched a standalone streaming service a year ago and will broadcast its first Super Bowl next February alongside ABC. The NFL integration is intended to eliminate duplication and achieve cost savings, but the layoffs reflect the ongoing pressure to reshape the business.