But as one door closes, another has been quietly approached. At various times over the last year, Olbermann and his representatives have expressed interest in his return to the employer that made him famous: ESPN.
Olbermann’s expressions of interest included dinner at New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant with John Skipper, ESPN’s president.
“Keith Olbermann, both personally and through a couple people I know, reached out to say, ‘Gee, I would love to have dinner,’ ” Skipper said. “I agreed to dinner with Keith because I assumed he’d be provocative and witty and fun to have dinner with, and he was indeed lots of fun. We talked sports and politics, and we had a nice chat. He is very interesting.
“Clearly he was looking to see if there was an entry point to come back.”
Olbermann declined to discuss the details of the conversation.
“I had the privilege to spend some time with John Skipper,” he said. “His vision and charm were readily apparent, and judging by his leadership, his family name was prophetic.”
In the months since that dinner, Olbermann’s representatives have campaigned at ESPN for possible opportunities, according to a senior executive at the network and someone directly involved with Olbermann’s efforts. Both people asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions.
Olbermann worked at ESPN from 1992 to 1997. A pivotal force in starting ESPN Radio, he became best known as one of the most prominent and popular anchors in the network’s history, co-hosting “SportsCenter” with Dan Patrick. Olbermann briefly left Patrick’s side to help start ESPN2 but soon returned to ESPN. There, he and Patrick reunited and continued hosting the 11 p.m. “SportsCenter” until his contract expired in 1997. Olbermann opted to leave sports altogether and signed on for a politically themed talk show on MSNBC.
Some at ESPN were glad to see him go; he was considered the network’s most controversial personality. Olbermann’s encyclopedic knowledge of sports was not disputed, nor were his writing skills or on-air talent. But over time, he managed to alienate a sizable group in the company, who found him exasperating to work with.
Patrick said he would not be surprised if Olbermann returned to ESPN.
“You can never say never,” said Patrick, who now hosts NBC’s “Football Night in America,” as well as a popular syndicated sports-talk show. “What I can say is that if he does return, I won’t be back there with him doing ‘SportsCenter,’ I can promise you that.”
For now, Skipper indicated that a return for Olbermann was not imminent.
“After the dinner, at that point, there was no real appropriate place for Keith to come back, nor did I feel like I was prepared to bring him back,” Skipper said.
“We don’t have a policy that says we won’t bring somebody back. We’re running a great business, and when we think we can get quality content, there’s no such thing as a condemned list. That said, this is not an easy place to get back into. There are not that many successful examples of people who have come back, in part because it’s like water filling a vacuum. When somebody leaves, somebody else fills their place.”
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/sports/keith-olbermann-expresses-interest-in-return-to-espn.html?partner=rss&emc=rss