Mark Schlereth learned his show was canceled the same way many of us did.
Before any Fox executive picked up the phone, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand had already reported FS1’s latest round of programming cuts. It’s a harsh reality of the business, but hardly a new one. But that’s life in the digital age. Athletes get traded and find out on social media before a GM even picks up the phone. Now that same cold, impersonal reality has made its way into sports media.
Breakfast Ball was part of FS1’s bold but short-lived morning experiment. After just 10 months on air, the network pulled the plug. The cancellation came as part of a broader shakeup that also eliminated The Facility and Speak, and resulted in Joy Taylor losing her role entirely. Danny Parkins remains at FS1, while Craig Carton saw his third iteration of a morning show wiped out. There’s talk of a possible WFAN reunion for Carton, though his former co-host Boomer Esiason isn’t convinced it’s happening anytime soon.
As for Schlereth, he’ll continue calling games for Fox, but it doesn’t look like he’ll play a role in the network’s studio programming in the future, even though he was the driving force behind Breakfast Ball. He addressed the news on his Stinkin’ Truth podcast, sounding more grateful than bitter, but still reflective about what the last 10 months meant to him.
“Bottom line is, man, listen, I got an opportunity to do something that I didn’t know I’d ever get the opportunity to do,” Schlereth said. “And I am so grateful for all of the people at Fox, for all of the guys I work with… What an unbelievable 10 months.”
What makes Schlereth’s time on Breakfast Ball even more meaningful is how personal the growth was. He opened up about growing up dyslexic, about being mocked for not being able to read, about the anxiety that’s haunted him since childhood, and about how, somehow, that fear dissolved once the cameras rolled.
“The other thing is, you know, I grew up dyslexic, and we have a nickname for me in the shop there at the radio is ‘The Butcher,’ because when I have to read a live script, I’m like, shoot, here we go. And you got a lot of work to do because you got to chop that damn thing up and go sentence by sentence to put it together half the time,” Schlereth added.
But over the course of Breakfast Ball, that fear — the one that lingered from childhood — started to loosen its grip.
“And for the people that hired me at Fox, I have nothing but the utmost thanks,” he continued. “I’m sorry it ended. I’m sorry we couldn’t make it work out. But I’ll be forever grateful. I developed a new skillset over the past 10 months that I never thought I’d have. And so for that, I’m thankful; I’m grateful.”
Of course, the logistics aren’t so tidy. Schlereth now finds himself with an apartment in New York, a house still on the market in Denver, and a career in transition.
“Yeah, that’s a pain in the ass,” he admitted. “It’s a bit unsettling.”
But Schlereth is a man of faith and gratitude. He still has Stokley and Evans with Mark Schlereth on 104.3 The Fan in Denver. And for now, he’s still expected to call games on Fox.
“Hopefully that doesn’t go away,” Schlereth said. “But if it does, you know what? We’ll deal with that bridge when we have to cross it.”
There’s no bitterness in Schlereth’s voice. No shots at the network, no finger-pointing. Just gratitude for the opportunity, and some honest disappointment that the show didn’t make it past 10 months. Still, he made a point to thank everyone who tuned in, even the ones who cheered the show’s demise.
“To everybody who watched on FS1 who supported me, who reached out to me, thank you so much, I appreciate it,” he added. “And to all the people that celebrated me getting fired and our show ending, I thank you guys, too. Because ultimately, one thing I’ve learned in this business is that you kind of want 50 percent to love you and 50 percent of the people to hate you. And as long as you’ve got that ratio, things are good. You’re doing your job.
“It’s never been one of those things where I’ve never been a hot take guy. I’ve always told you what I think based upon all the stuff that I study, all the things that I look at, and all the coaches I have relationships with. And I’ll continue to do that.”