Katie Nolan is joining NBC’s Beijing Winter Olympics coverage. The network announced on Thursday that she will create daily short-form content for television and digital platforms.
“I always dreamed I’d go to the Olympics one day,” Nolan said in NBC’s official announcement. “Technically in the dream, I was winning gold for Team USA, but I’m thrilled at the chance to win one with Team NBC Olympics. We get medals for this, right?”
Two recent tweets from Nolan hinted at her new gig, whether fans realized it or not.
Nolan revealed on Twitter in September that she was no longer working for ESPN after four years at the network. At ESPN, she hosted Always Late with Katie Nolan for ESPN+ and the podcast Sports? With Katie Nolan, while also appearing on shows including Highly Questionable, Around the Horn, and The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.
But her standing at the network appeared to deteriorate after her podcast producer, Ashley Braband, was laid off in November 2020. Nolan later revealed that Always Late had been canceled earlier in the year.
In the four months since then, Nolan shared that she believed she was close to getting an HBO show that eventually went to Bomani Jones. It’s also been rumored that she would eventually land at Meadowlark Media, where she would reunite with Le Batard and John Skipper, but a project for her has not yet developed.
Prior to joining ESPN, Nolan hosted Garbage Time with Katie Nolan and NFL Films Presents for FS1, and was one of the original panelists on Crowd Goes Wild.
Based on her previous work, Nolan should provide humor and irreverence for the Winter Olympics viewing audience, perhaps providing a change of pace for the heartwarming and serious feature storytelling NBC provides for more casual sports fans. It’s unfortunate that NBC isn’t sending any talent to Beijing due to COVID-19 concerns because Nolan could produce some entertaining content on-site.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
