Sam Ponder’s nearly 13-year tenure at ESPN came to an end this week. On Thursday, The Athletic reported that the network has parted ways with the Sunday NFL Countdown host.

Ponder reportedly had some time left on her seven-figure contract. However, according to The Athletic, the company’s ongoing efforts to explore cost-cutting opportunities as the end of the company’s fiscal year approaches prompted the decision to fire the TV host. A source familiar with Ponder’s firing also told Fox News Digital that it was a business decision.

The former Kentucky swimmer and host of OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” Another theory was put forward on the podcast about ESPN’s decision to part ways with Ponder.

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Samantha Ponder speaks during the “Inside the Game” Q&A presented by IFA on February 2, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Thaddaeus McAdams/WireImage)

“So ESPN fires Sam Ponder, the only woman at the network who has publicly said men don’t belong in women’s sports. Three weeks before football season?” Gaines posted Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. “Sam is one of the most beautiful, genuine women I have ever met, as is Sage Steele, who had a similar fate… no coincidence.”

Gaines also defended Ponder, saying the television presenter was “incredibly good at her job.”

“We just saw this week where Sam Ponder, one of the – I had the pleasure of being able to spend some time with her,” Gaines said during a recent episode of “Gaines for Girls.”

“She is one of the most beautiful, kind, authentic, genuine and determined people you could ever get to know on a personal level and of course she is incredibly good at her job. We saw this week how ESPN – yes, that’s right, ESPN, which is of course owned by Disney – fired Sam Ponder.”

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Gaines rejected the notion that Ponder was fired for budgetary reasons, citing instances in which the sportscaster had shared social media posts about transgender athletes participating in women’s sports.

“That was news to me. I looked into what the reasoning was. They said it was about budget cuts. But it should be no surprise that Sam Ponder was the only current employee, the only current female employee at ESPN, who was willing to publicly state that men have no place in women’s sports. About a year ago, Sam quoted one of my tweets where I talked about the Biden administration and Title IX and what they were doing with this ruling that effectively repealed Title IX.”

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at an event. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal/USA Today Network)

“She quoted one of my tweets and said it’s not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls. Then USA Today columnist Nancy Armour attacked Ponder for her views, claiming her views reflect bigotry and are a deception. Ponder, who has been the host of ESPN’s NFL Countdown since 2017, then responded to that Nancy Armour article, saying biology is not bigotry and even said that loving people does not require the absence of boundaries. Absolutely.”

Gaines also compared Ponder’s firing to former “SportsCenter” anchor Sage Steele’s departure from the network.

“But now she’s gotten the treatment from Sage Steele and David Pollack, both guests interviewed on the Gaines for Girls podcast, and so I encourage you to go back and listen to those episodes. What I’m saying is that ESPN is a joke, we’re fully behind Sam Ponder. Again, she’s one of the most incredible women I’ve ever met, so it’s a loss for ESPN. No doubt she’ll bounce back, she’ll do just fine on her own.”

Then-ESPN anchor Sage Steele speaks on set during Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors on June 7, 2019 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. (Rey Josue II/NBAE via Getty Images)

Steele filed suit against her then-employer after claiming ESPN suspended her in retaliation for comments she made during a podcast appearance about Disney’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Disney is ESPN’s parent company.

“I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to dictate it is, um, sick,” Steele said in September 2021 when she was a guest on NFL quarterback Jay Cutler’s “Uncut” podcast.

“And it scares me in a lot of ways. But I have a job, a job that I love, and, frankly, a job that I need. But, again, I love it. I’m not surprised that it’s come to this, especially at Disney, a global company… but it was actually emotional.”

Shortly after reaching an agreement with ESPN in 2023, Sage announced her departure from the company after 16 years.

Steele decided to leave She called it her “dream job,” hoping that it would allow her to “more freely exercise her rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Steele also offered his support to Ponder on Friday and expressed enthusiasm about the former ESPN employee’s future prospects.

“This is another loss for ESPN, but a win for the rest of the world because now you’re going to see the real Sam Ponder,” Steele said in a video posted on social media. “It’s all going to come out, and I hope you’re ready. She’s a gem.”

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy also reacted to the news of Ponder’s dismissal.

“No bottle of Sam Ponder, can you believe that?” Portnoy said Thursday. “Listen, I shot Sam Ponder first. Was that a joke? Yes. Do I think they and ESPN overreacted? I know that. But I’m fair. And I said that about Ponder, bury the axe, bury the hatchet. I don’t have a bottle of champagne for them.”

Ponder and Portnoy were involved in a feud in 2018. Shortly before “Barstool Van Talk” was set to premiere on ESPN, Portnoy implied that Ponder was the catalyst for the show’s end, which led to a war of words between the two. “Barstool Van Talk” was canceled after just one episode.

Sam Ponder visits SiriusXM at Super Bowl LVII on February 10, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Ponder wasn’t the only prominent ESPN personality to publicly voice her opinions on transgender athletes. As the controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif grew, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky shared a post on X that said, “Protect our daughters.” Orlovsky later deleted the post.

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Kirk Herbstreit, a longtime analyst for College GameDay, said he no longer plans to “bite his tongue” about athletes’ participation in sports.

“It’s almost like there are two different sets of rules,” Herbstreit said Tuesday during an appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me! with Dan Dakich.”

“…and if you have a more traditional view – I’m a Christian – then it’s like there are different rules for that view and it’s hard to keep turning the other cheek. I didn’t really care.”

Ponder has not yet commented publicly on ESPN’s decision to part ways with her.

ESPN also fired former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III on Thursday. He joined the company in 2022 and worked as an analyst on “NFL Live.” He was also a college football analyst and appeared on “Monday Night Countdown.” Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce was selected as Griffin’s replacement for the NFL pregame show for the 2024 season.

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