When Shae Cornette hears the synonymous introduction associated with the SportsCenter program, it functions as a point of no return sans the negative connotation. Since she has been working as a full-time anchor for the ESPN flagship program over the last several months, Cornette has worked to come into her own on the show through delivering sports news, analysis and highlights to a global audience.
Cornette is part of a lineup of SportsCenter anchors that continue to keep the program relevant and safeguard it from becoming regarded as an anachronistic relic of the past. Although viewers can receive highlights near instantaneously through digital media platforms, the tradition of SportsCenter and innovation taking place on the show has allowed it to continue to thrive in the current media ecosystem.
Cornette regards the role as a genuine dream job, especially as someone who grew up watching the show and had an early penchant for sports. There are several hosts who adeptly integrate their personalities into the program, but it took time for Cornette to reach that point where she can speak without a teleprompter as a parachute.
“In the beginning when I first started filling in on SportsCenter, I did not ad-lib very much at all,” Cornette said. “I’ll be the first to admit it – I was afraid. I didn’t want to be the one to blow up SportsCenter. Now I have a little bit more ownership on the show obviously because it’s my full-time gig and I truly am now a SportsCenter anchor, so I feel more comfortable and I have a little bit more liberties to be able to say things or ad-lib.”
Displaying personality to the viewer and giving them an incentive to tune in that spans beyond highlights or the heralded SportsCenter Top 10 has resulted in success for the property. In fact, ESPN recently reported year-over-year viewership growth across all the editions of the show. Part of that can be attributed to the relatability of the hosts, some of whom have decided to openly express their allegiances to certain sports teams. In essence, the people working on the show are legitimate fans of what they are covering, demonstrating passion and dedication to the craft.
“I’ve said multiple times on air, ‘Hey guys, this is a few good months for me and my Bears fandom to actually shine because after the NFL Draft, I don’t really know where it’s going to go,’” Cornette said. “I can make those kinds of jokes now, and I think that’s why SportsCenter has evolved in such a cool way where personalities can be shown, and I love that.”
While Cornette has always been a sports fan, she did not initially realize that it would be at the center of her professional endeavors. Instead, she originally wanted to be a marine biologist until taking a public speaking class at Indiana University. After giving an ad-lib about a chair in the classroom for more than four minutes, her professor recognized her propensity for conversation and suggested she consider pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. At the same time, Cornette became interested in college basketball where she regarded the game as resembling a religion, and everything gradually began to fall into place.
“I went around asking students what they had thought about what was going on with Kelvin Sampson, and I sent it into Big Ten Network and they ran it because they just didn’t have a lot of talent,” Cornette said. “They were brand-new; it was a boots-on-the-ground situation. I’m sure I was horrible, but it was something that they could use and they could run.”
Cornette spent time materializing connections and capitalizing on professional opportunities, interning at both Showtime and MTV while she was a college student. Moreover, she served as a production assistant for Chicago Bears games broadcast on CBS. Upon her graduation with a dual degree in journalism and kinesiology, Cornette spent time seizing any opportunity she could land, including as a field reporter for football games on the Big Ten Network. Additionally, she was a correspondent for The Chicago Huddle Bears pregame show on ABC7 Chicago and both hosted and reported for Campus Insiders and 120 Sports.
As time went on, Cornette began to cover the Bears on a variety of different platforms, including becoming the first woman to host a show predominantly about the team on FOX 32 Chicago, which was called Bears Unleashed. The station named her its beat reporter for the team where she appeared on newscasts to discuss the team and also hosted pregame and postgame coverage. During her formative years covering the day-to-day occurrences of the team and being in the locker room, she worked to gain respect from her peers and make her voice heard.
“I remember when I first started going into locker rooms or being in scrums and things like that, and I would try to ask a question, and 85 dudes who have been writers for 50 million years would speak over me, and I used to get so frustrated,” Cornette said. “You think that happens now? No way. Maybe one person will speak over you if you’re new just to get you acclimated, but it’s much more, ‘You’ve got a question. You go next.’”
At the same time, Cornette also met her future husband, former Notre Dame basketball player Jordan Cornette, while they were both working at Campus Insiders. Jordan was the co-host of Kap & Company on ESPN 1000, but he eventually relocated to Bristol, Conn. to work at ESPN on television. Shae ended up being selected to assume the co-host role and began co-hosting the afternoon program alongside David Kaplan in 2018. The invaluable experience spending time on an audio medium contributed to her evolution as a broadcaster and ability to connect with the audience.
“You can’t hide in radio,” Cornette said. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, everyone will know in five seconds. It just allows you to be able to have a more open dialogue about things that you’re maybe not as comfortable talking about.”
Shae Cornette eventually made the transition to host on ESPN Radio’s national platform after working on SiriusXM NFL Radio throughout the week. Aside from the ability to speak to an audience en masse, Cornette valued the opportunity to work alongside her husband, Jordan, on GameDay during the football season in afternoon drive. Becoming the first married couple to co-host a national ESPN Radio program, there were inherent advantages to the job related to preparation and chemistry. The audience was hearing something different, a partnership that had been cemented through friendship and subsequent matrimony, and became enamored with their dynamic on the air.
“Whenever anyone asks us about working together, it’s what everyone thinks it is,” Cornette said. “If we’re fighting in real life, we’re fighting on the air and everyone knows it. You can’t hide it, and that’s okay – we’re married – it’s fine, and I think it actually just made us a little bit more relatable.”
As her career continued to flourish and led to a daily television show with her husband, SportsNation on ESPN+, Cornette utilized her versatility and ability to adapt in order to thrive. Along with her early repetitions in sports media, she had also explored the world of entertainment and taken part in several ventures within the space. Some of these included filling in on Morning Dose on The CW and hosting for Celeb.TV. With her hosting endeavors across various ESPN platforms, she was cognizant of the fact that the sports media company does more than solely inform its viewers about the latest events in sports.
“ESPN is not just sports; we’re there to entertain as well,” Cornette said. “So if I can draw parallels to anything that is going on in the entertainment world or phrases that people are saying nowadays, I think that keeps us relevant.”
Over her four years at ESPN, Cornette has filled in on several of the network’s radio and television studio programs in addition to its coverage of college sports. During her time with the company though, she has not reported as much as she had on other events in the past. The dichotomy between the two occupations became more clear to her while in Chicago, and she ultimately gravitated more towards hosting programming.
“I love reporting, especially for a team that I’m passionate about or an event,” Cornette said. “I really like it – I like being the eyes and ears of the viewer [for] things that they can’t see and do – but with hosting, I feel like you have a much greater opportunity to show personality, show knowledge [and] give unique perspective. And look, I know SportsCenter isn’t the most personality-driven show, but I’m trying really hard to inject that where I can, and there have been a lot of people that have paved the way for that.”
Cornette was recently named a full-time SportsCenter anchor and is intrigued by the unpredictability of her days in the studio. Since the program covers all sports, she and the production team need to remain aware about events happening in real time. Additionally, the SportsCenter Top 10 provides a lens into leagues and games that gives them time to shine in the spotlight. The key for Cornette is simply slowing down, feedback she has been told for years and has worked to implement.
“I naturally have a fast energy about me, which can be good and can be bad, but I definitely try and be a little bit more casual and conversational,” Cornette said. “Ultimately, I want that to be relatable.”
For the last several months, Cornette has co-hosted afternoon editions of the program and is rarely behind the desk alone. The preparation process leading up to a typical program involves watching games, reading articles, searching social media and reviewing statistics. Cornette also implements sports talk radio into her daily commute to the SportsCenter studio and listens to a variety of different marketplaces.
“That’s how I kind of soak it in,” Cornette said, “and then when I get into work and I look through my rundown, I’ll go back and re-watch highlights if I haven’t seen something.”
There exist moments where SportsCenter anchors have to forsake the rundown in order to cover breaking news. Cornette recently announced the death of former NFL running back O.J. Simpson. The show broke its regular programming with a breaking news bumper where Cornette relayed the information and read a statement from the family. SportsCenter then continued the discussion with Outside the Lines host and ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap. While Cornette did not foresee this moment taking place during her program, she did her best to handle it with poise and aplomb.
“When the unknown comes in and keeps you on your toes, it keeps me constantly having to know what’s going on obviously in the sports world [and] constantly having to understand every sport, which can be difficult sometimes,” Cornette said, “but I think that’s what makes us good at our jobs.”
Conversely, there is news that does not always break amid an edition of SportsCenter that she hopes comes to light while she is hosting. As a Chicago Bears fan and former reporter covering the team, she was hoping that news surrounding quarterback Justin Fields would end up breaking on the show. While the topic was evidently discussed on SportsCenter upon his trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers, information surrounding the transaction was not divulged while Cornette was hosting.
“There’s days where you just hope for that kind of news because it’s so fun and invigorating,” Cornette explained. “You get to, in real time with the viewer, share the excitement of this breaking news and what’s going to happen, and we’re all learning it together.”
Advances in technology and alterations in consumer habits have required different companies to evaluate their performances in the marketplaces and make necessary adjustments. Cornette understands that SportsCenter cannot be a show that is all highlight driven; rather, there needs to be an incentive to tune in that goes beyond its initial premise.
“It’s just not your average sports show that is niche,” Cornette said. “It covers a little bit of everything for everyone, and I think that’s why people tune in because they want to hear what is going on in [various sports]. The fact that SportsCenter continues to stretch its wings over so many sports while also having personality and also still having its core fundamentals – those highlights and whatnot – is what makes it, I think, a special program.”
Cornette feels motivated to give extra effort and perform at a high level from her family, but she also feels she is proving herself on a daily basis. Whenever she is slated to anchor an edition of the program, she tries to represent herself and ESPN with professionalism and proficiency. As she continues working as a full-time SportsCenter anchor, Cornette looks to remain dedicated to the program and convey relatability to the audience. Beyond the SportsCenter property, she aspires to host live event coverage within the large rights portfolio that has been amassed and maintained by ESPN over the years.
“I would love to have that same sort of live television feeling at a live event now through the ESPN channel,” Cornette said. “So I’m hoping that that maybe will be something that comes in my future, but for right now, I’m just trying to nail the daily grind.”
As the lights turn on and eminent jingle resonates with the audience, Cornette continues to carry the legacy and credibility of SportsCenter that has been built and retained over generations. Every day she takes part in the show, she appreciates the ability to highlight stellar performances, uncover meaningful stories and exhibit the breadth of ESPN’s portfolio in the sports media space.
“I feel like I’m proving to myself every day that I can do this,” Cornette said. “…[T]his really was a dream job of mine, and every day that I come out of that studio feeling like I did something better or did something brand new and I did a good job at it is really a fulfilling feeling.”
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.
