Scott Van Pelt says he sees a potential finish line approaching for his midnight SportsCenter run. However, the veteran ESPN anchor won’t yet predict exactly when it arrives.
What We Know: Van Pelt has solo-hosted the midnight edition of SportsCenter since 2015. Moreover, that signature late-night role now approaches its full eleventh year. Recently, he candidly addressed his uncertain future on his own podcast, SVPod. As he’s prepared to leave for a summer break from the show, he revealed that over time the thoughts about how much longer he’ll continue in the role have begun to surface.
What They Said: (all quotes via SVPod)
Scott Van Pelt hints there is no chance of 11 more years of midnight edition of SportsCenter: “This will be 11 years. You know what that means? That means we’re on the back nine now. Are we gonna bank a 41 in our last of these nines? Now, that means that we still got 11 more. There’s no chance.”
Scott Van Pelt is unsure how many more years he could continue hosting the midnight edition of SportsCenter: “There’s two things that matter. One is the aptitude. and the other is the appetite. Appetite, and aptitude. They’re both equally important… My man [Stanford Steve] is a big help here, but it’s just kind of me sitting out there yammering away a lot. So, at some point diminishing returns sets in. I’m well aware of it. There’s nights I feel like maybe it’s already happening. So, I don’t know, man. It’s fun to say there’s only one more [SportsCenter At Night with SVP before vacation], but I don’t know how many more there are at all. But I promise we’ll still figure out something to do, because we still got to pay them notes.”
What Remains Unclear: Still, Van Pelt hasn’t named any firm exit date for the show. Likewise, he openly admits he doesn’t know how many more years remain. He also didn’t detail his current contract length anywhere during these remarks.
What It Means: With any longtime role on a network, talent tend to begin to think about an exit plan with time. Van Pelt is the highest viewed SportsCenter program on the network as the majority follows live game broadcasts. Van Pelt has turned that edition of SportsCenter into his own late night talk show alongside Stanford Steve. For now, he feels he can still fill the role. However, it will be interesting to see how much longer Van Pelt takes it on. His “back nine” framing hints at a deliberate wind-down. Ultimately, ESPN must eventually prepare for a post-Van Pelt midnight era.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
