As the evolution of media has continued to hasten over the last several decades, consumers are discovering and engaging with content apropos to their specific interests. The promulgation of sports betting and fantasy leagues have rendered users ways to be involved in the game, cheering on specific players or results. Keeping SportsCenter on ESPN relevant within an environment with heightened content demands and eroding provinciality in what was once a proprietary space is a challenge of which Nicole Briscoe and her colleagues are keenly aware.
They work to keep the program pertinent on a nightly basis, putting in significant time and commitment to monitoring the sports pulse, enterprise reporting and building camaraderie that translates on the program. Whereas some programs solely focus on highlights, SportsCenter extrapolates narratives and aims to convey recondite esoterica in a compendious and discernible manner.
“You may have already seen it, but do you know the things behind it?,” Briscoe explained. “Do you know the story behind it? Do you know the things that actually matter in other ways? And that’s where sort of SportsCenter excels. It’s sort of like the definition of, ‘Tell me something I don’t already know.’”
Over the last several years, Briscoe has primarily hosted a nighttime edition of the program, but she arrives at the studios many hours beforehand to prepare for the show. Throughout the day, she pays attention to news, games and other events, and she works with researchers and producers to format the program as well. Briscoe also expounds on her ideas and makes suggestions of how to enhance different segments ahead of showtime. By the time the synonymous introduction takes place and the cameras are live, Briscoe feels comfortable and ready to tackle another episode of the heralded sports media franchise.
“The game has slowed down for me in terms of I don’t get nervous when I sit down on the set; I get excited,” Briscoe said. “I don’t get nervous when the red light comes on, and that’s not something I take for granted because I know a lot of effort went into getting to that point. The sooner you can get to that point, the more enjoyable it is.”
Briscoe recently inked a multiyear contract extension with ESPN, an accolade for which she is humbled and grateful to have attained. In being able to extend her career with the network, she knows that she will be able to try new things and continue to grow. At the same time, it provides a consistent work-life balance as she raises two children and tries to spend time with them.
“As much as I love my job and I want to be respected and I want to continue to do really great things and fun things in my job, the most important part of my life are those two overall,” Briscoe said, referring to her children. “If they feel loved and happy and supported and healthy, then that is the only thing that really matters.”
WREX-TV news anchors Heather Pick and Eric Wilson taught Briscoe about broadcast journalism and offered stark critiques of her work. Aside from refining her oratory and writing skills, she also gained a sense of professionalism and a better cognizance of how to act in these settings. Briscoe initially began as an intern at the station while attending Northern Illinois University, but she eventually garnered a paid position that put her on the air.
“They gave me an understanding of the business,” Briscoe said, “and I think you’re only as good on the foundation on which you grow, and for me, those people there and the lessons they started to drill into me – I still use them every day.”
Upon graduating from college, Briscoe worked as a general assignment reporter at WANE-TV in Fort Wayne, Ind. where she continued to focus on news; however, her aspirations to assimilate into sports media were conspicuous. As a result, the news director informed her that an affiliated station in Indianapolis was looking for someone to cover sports.
“I think it’s really important to get comfortable being uncomfortable,” Briscoe said. “It’s really easy to go and do the things that you know how to do, but what makes you better is when you try something new and you take a chance and you take a risk.”
Briscoe grew up with a familiarity of football and basketball, rendering her work more facile in covering the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers. When the Pacers were competing in the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat, a senior member of the station told her that he was going to go to Miami while she would cover a motorsports event. Prior to working at WISH-TV, Briscoe had never seen a car on a racetrack and did not know anything about motorsports. In attending the race that day, meeting people and searching for information, she became more versatile and earned subsequent related assignments.
“I think sometimes now people will be like, ‘Oh, I want to do ‘X,’’ and they think there’s only one way to get to ‘X,’” Briscoe said. “Motorsports was not a part of my plan to get to ‘X,’ but I said ‘Yes’ to an opportunity, and sometimes saying ‘Yes’ to an opportunity and getting outside of your comfort zone is the thing that opens up a door for you that you wouldn’t have expected.”
Briscoe began to develop a passion for racing over time and covered marquee events such as the United States Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500. She also picked up responsibilities on radio as a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network while continuing her obligations at the local station.
Two years later, she left local news and joined Speed Channel in Charlotte, N.C. where she hosted The Speed Report. The network was owned by FOX, and she began to gradually get to know people associated with other national networks, including ESPN. Briscoe officially joined ESPN in 2008 as a host and reporter for the NASCAR Now news program while also contributing to racing coverage under The Walt Disney Company’s eight-year media rights deal.
“I feel like maybe when I was working in Indianapolis it seemed like it was more of a niche sport,” Briscoe articulated, “but when I moved to ESPN, you’re definitely broadcasting on a network level and broadcasting it for a much larger audience, so it didn’t feel so small town anymore.”
In 2011, Briscoe was named as the new host of NASCAR Countdown, the show that preceded the televised races emanating from the racetracks themselves. Because of her job, she traveled 32 weeks out of the year from Thursday through Monday covering half of the Cup season and the entire second tier. FOX Sports and NBC Sports agreed to a deal with the auto-racing company that began in 2015, ending most of the broadcasts on the network.
“When you’re doing something for a long time and sort of the rules change, it again becomes an opportunity to do something else and do something different and grow and adapt and change,” Briscoe said. “I was really lucky. There was really no amount of time where I was like, ‘Oh crap, what am I going to do next?’ ESPN came to me immediately and said, ‘We would like you to stay on and do SportsCenter.’”
Although she had been at ESPN for several years, Briscoe was in the process of learning just how the show she grew up watching was compiled and put on the air. Making an on-air debut earlier than previously scheduled, she received plaudits from viewers and colleagues and gradually assimilated into the job. Despite the early success though, Briscoe knew there was work to be done to more effectively convey authenticity.
“I used to feel like there were two versions of me,” Briscoe divulged. “There was the version that people would get like ‘TV Nicole,’ and if you didn’t like ‘TV Nicole,’ that was okay because I wasn’t ‘Real Nicole.’ At some point, I stopped doing that. Whatever you see of me on TV, that’s the real me.”
An analogy Briscoe uses to think about SportsCenter is as if the viewer is participating in an intelligent conversation about sports with friends while situated at a bar. Fans are able to add to that conversation utilizing social media, providing their opinion and feedback. Leading up to the show, the production team determines what will be the lead while remaining nimble in reacting to breaking news in real-time should it occur.
“When I was working in NASCAR, I knew a lot about a little, and I have an opportunity now to kind of know a little about a lot,” Briscoe said. “Can I break down the X’s and O’s like Dan Orlovsky can? No, but very few people can. And I’m not going to be the Tim Legler of the NBA world, but I thoroughly enjoy the fact that I don’t know what my day is going to look like when I walk in the door at night.”
For Briscoe, there is slight aberration in each day she works on the program, but the constant is in doing her part to keep sports fans both informed and entertained. When the show begins, she forgets that people are watching and considers herself comfortable as she delivers news and reads over highlights. Striving to refrain from being disingenuous on camera was concomitant with the process of finding her own voice, which took a prolonged stretch of persistence and dedication.
Over the years, Briscoe has been subject to prejudiced and misogynistic commentary for her work, but she does her best to not let it affect her mindset. Even though she does not regard herself as breaking any barriers, she wants to support others in the field and facilitate the development of the next generation of professionals.
“I know that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I also know that I’m damn good at my job, and if I’m not your cup of tea, that’s kind of your problem; it’s not my problem,” Briscoe said. “But I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do my job; I’m going to do it to the best of my ability and I’m going to stay true to myself.”
Working nocturnal hours has been more conducive for Briscoe to succeed since she considers herself to be more productive at this time of the day. While anchoring in the mornings, Briscoe remembers sitting at the dinner table and being unable to conjure the verbiage to adequately express her thoughts to her family.
“I would get up between 2:40 a.m. or 3:05 depending on the day of the week that we were doing the show,” Briscoe said, “and I would get to the end of the day on that show and I would be so tired that I’d have zero patience or I wouldn’t be able to remember my own name.”
Although she does not gather much sleep during the weeks, she finds time to support her children and engage in other activities such as training to run marathons. In signing the contract extension, Briscoe is able to continue providing for her family and ensuring a sense of continuity as it ostensibly becomes more commodious.
“The schedule that I have for work allows me to sort of do all the things and try to be all the things for all the people all the time,” Briscoe said. “Sometimes that doesn’t work; sometimes it does, but it does let me have the best of all of my worlds most of the time.”
During her last contract, Briscoe has had the opportunity to partake in projects beyond SportsCenter, one of which includes Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown, the pregame show that precedes the network’s broadcasts of Sunday Night Baseball. There are several instances where she has expressed interest in other opportunities and the network has helped cultivate a belief of never ruling out new assignments.
Briscoe also continues to contribute to motor sports coverage, specifically Formula 1 Racing, a property that has grown in prominence and prestige both domestically and abroad. In fact, an average of 1.11 million viewers tuned into the racing telecasts on ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 throughout the season, the second most-viewed year on record. Outside of these endeavors, Briscoe has interest in expanding her work with the National Football League, along with crafting features and participating in protracted storytelling.
“When you work on SportsCenter, you’re doing things in snippets and you’re telling stories but you’re not really, really digging into it,” Briscoe said. “Being able to do a feature is a chance to really get to the heart and soul of a topic, and that is something that I would like to do more of.”
Throughout her time on the show, Briscoe has starred in several “This is SportsCenter” commercials, including a recent spot featuring colleagues Gary Striewski, Steve Levy and Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum. She has become a trusted and respected voice on the airwaves and someone who keeps the audience aware of key action around the world of sports. Even though she is on a national broadcast network and a member of an enduring property, Briscoe knows that it takes diligence and an unwavering commitment to remain there. Signing on the proverbial dotted line to remain as such extends that window and keeps her firmly rooted within the whirlwind and windfalls of revolutionary progress.
“Just because you ‘made it’ or you are where you wanted to be doesn’t mean you stop working hard because there’s always somebody there who’s hungry and wanting your position,” Briscoe said. “There’s never really a chance where you’re like, ‘Oh, I made it. I can just relax now.’”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
