Report: Tony Reali may leave ESPN for rival network

Tony Reali may be headed for greener pastures now that his longtime television show is coming to an end.

The ESPN host Reali was profiled this week in a feature by Ben Strauss of The Washington Post. Strauss reported in the feature that Reali has not made much headway on a new contract with ESPN, which expires this summer. Additionally, Reali has reportedly met with NBC recently about a potential role in their coverage of the Olympics and is also said to be interested in doing game show work.

Reali, 46, initially joined ESPN as a researcher in 2000 and eventually replaced Max Kellerman as the host of the show “Around the Horn” in 2004. Since then, “Around the Horn” became a staple show on ESPN with Reali’s role as host and moderator making him something of a household name.

But earlier this year, ESPN made the decision to cancel “Around the Horn” after its over two-decade run. The last-ever show of “Around the Horn” is now set to air on Friday, May 23.

A recent report surfaced claiming that “Around the Horn” was cancelled because it went too “woke.” Reali has since pushed back on that claim though, suggesting that the show had simply just run its course. You can read the full Washington Post feature on him here.

If Reali does end up leaving ESPN for NBC, he would be taking a similar path to that of Mike Tirico, his former colleague. Tirico worked at ESPN for 25 years before eventually moving to NBC, where he has since become a ubiquitous presence covering a wide variety of sports.