ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt is hitting the brakes on a report that he’ll be the next host of Monday Night Countdown. The SportsCenter host denies a report that he’s been handed the job.
Last week, Richard Deitsch of The Athletic reported that ESPN tabbed Van Pelt as the next lead host of the popular NFL program. But in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show, the longtime ESPN personality said that wasn’t the case.
“It was reported that I was the guy. And other than me not having been offered the job or accepting a job I haven’t been offered, it was spot on,” Van Pelt said. “God, that was weird. I mean, you read things and you’re like, ‘Whoa, whoa.’
“People were congratulating me! You hear an athlete or somebody in sports say, ‘Well, that’s just not true.’ And you kind of always think, ‘Sure it is.’ Well, this was a situation where something was reported about me, which was not accurate. Now, I don’t want to be coy and act like it couldn’t happen.”
Prior to Deitsch’s report about Van Pelt becoming the new host, Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reported that he and Laura Rutledge were the two primary candidates for the job.
ESPN needs a new host for its Monday Night Countdown program after parting ways with Suzy Kolber, who hosted the show since 2015. The network laid off a number of employees recently.
Van Pelt has been one of ESPN’s most popular personalities for years. He began his run with the network in 2001 and started hosting the popular midnight edition of SportsCenter in 2015.
Rutledge would bring prior NFL experience to the role. She has hosted ESPN’s afternoon show, NFL Live, since 2020.
Scott Van Pelt hints at moving on from SportsCenter
Recently, Van Pelt revealed that he didn’t envision himself hosting the late-night editions of SportsCenter forever. That’s why many believed the initial report that he accepted a role on Monday Night Countdown.
“I’ve been doing this a long time where, look, I don’t want to do that forever,” Van Pelt told Sports Illustrated. “And that would lead to the natural, ‘What would you want to do?’ I don’t know. I don’t know.
“I still enjoy it.”
Van Pelt acknowledged that there are several aspects of the job he still loves. However, there are certain things that he could live without.
“At some point, it’s Tuesday night and you’re following the White Sox and it’s like, that’s fun, too, but it’s just not the same level of juice as a night like this,” he said. “Or you’re following taped programming, it’s a 30 for 30, and here you come. Coming off a game, at least there’s a game.”
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