Welcome back to “On the Air,” in which Sports Media Watch Podcast co-host Armand Broady will offer in-depth breakdowns of broadcasters’ on-air performance and career journeys, plus chronicle broader trends in the industry.
Live television after a big game can be mayhem. Production associates are hurriedly finishing shot sheets and cutting highlights while producers offer instructions to the postgame anchor and communicate with the game crew on-site. Many times, production team members from the stadium or arena are setting up audio and video with the game’s hero, preparing the star performer for an interview with the postgame host.
In the midst of the pandemonium, viewers look to the anchor to enthusiastically deliver highlights, direct traffic and fill time with commentary when there’s an unexpected delay. No one at ESPN performs television’s postgame juggling act better than SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt. In fact, Van Pelt has been so good for so long that it’s easy to take his work for granted.
Take this past Wednesday night. After Arkansas committed costly blunders in its 6-5 College World Series loss to LSU, Van Pelt opened his interview with analyst Kyle Peterson by focusing on the dejected state of the Arkansas players.
“I saw young men in tears and you realize what it means,” Van Pelt said. He then went on to ask Peterson about some of the mental errors Arkansas had made, but for a brief moment, Van Pelt reminded us of something fans can forget: these players are human. Their season was over, their dreams shattered. It wasn’t a moment to pass blame, as debate shows often do. Van Pelt’s observation presented an opportunity for viewers to feel the Razorbacks’ pain.
It’s one of the things that separates Van Pelt from his peers. Besides that, he is an excellent conversationalist and interviewer. Van Pelt understands that as the face of the show, he’s allowed to give opinions and to even set up his questions with some editorializing, but he does it intelligently and in a way that gives his interview subjects somewhere to go.
After Oklahoma City’s comeback win over Indiana in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Van Pelt teed up his question to analyst Tim Legler this way: “For the balance of this evening, it felt like we were going to be talking about the home team (Indiana) ahead 3 games to 1 in this series. They had a 10-point lead late in the 3rd. But Oklahoma City managed to stay in the fight and, when push came to shove — sometimes literally — late, they had more and won. How?”
Van Pelt has mastered the art of cleverly infusing his questions with his own observations. It’s a mix of what SportsCenter used to be — just the highlights — with what sports television has now become: highlights, perspective, commentary, interviews and creative content.
And when news breaks, Van Pelt shines. After Buffalo Bills S Damar Hamlin’s medical emergency in 2023, Van Pelt sensitively guided viewers through. From tossing to various reporters on site to his conversation with analyst Ryan Clark, Van Pelt navigated a terrifying moment with professionalism and poise.
When ESPN rolled out this reimagined SportsCenter in 2015, Van Pelt told Sports Illustrated, “I’m an adult and so are many of the viewers and we will approach it that way. I’m not going to talk down to you. I have a sincere enthusiasm for what we get to do and I think that will translate. I think it will work because they have put me in a position where if it does not I would be surprised.”
Ten years later, not only has it worked, it has lifted Van Pelt’s career to new heights. He was named National Sportscaster of the Year in 2021, he’s the host of Monday Night Countdown — ESPN’s most important pregame show — and he’s the face of the network’s golf coverage.
While he has his detractors, Van Pelt has largely earned a level of trust with viewers that is difficult to attain in this divisive sports television age. He’s not a rambunctious provocateur like Pat McAfee. Don’t look for him to needlessly engage in verbal sparring matches with athletes the way Stephen A. Smith does. Van Pelt is an old school anchor who’s adopted new school approaches and it’s made him ESPN’s most respected host.
Plus: What else can Dan Orlovsky do at ESPN?
After hinting at an uncertain future with ESPN, longtime NFL and college football analyst Dan Orlovsky is expected to re-sign with the network, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
Orlovsky will continue his work on NFL Live and the secondary Monday Night Football broadcast crew. He also appears on ABC college football studio coverage and across ESPN’s daytime talk shows.
As one of ESPN’s most prominent football voices, Orlovsky faces a dilemma. His reported talks to succeed CBS lead analyst Gary Danielson suggest he is, at minimum, open to the idea of becoming a lead game commentator. But ESPN’s prime spots — Troy Aikman for the NFL and Kirk Herbstreit for college football — are taken. Tom Brady is on the front end of his mammoth 10-year deal as Fox’s top NFL analyst, while Tony Romo gears up for another season on the primary CBS crew. Last year, Cris Collinsworth reportedly signed a contract extension that will keep him on as NBC’s Sunday Night Football analyst through the 2029-30 season.
Networks are signing large deals with their chief analysts, leaving no room for up-and-comers like Orlovsky to move up the ranks.
While he is just 41 years old, Orlovsky has worked for ESPN for seven years, gaining respect from viewers and industry professionals for his detailed tape breakdowns and unique insights. So respected is he that some have suggested he consider leaving broadcasting for coaching.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter addressed those sentiments earlier this year during an interview on The Pat McAfee Show.
“I think Dan aspires to be a head coach in time,” Schefter said. “He’s been talking to people to see if there’s a spot that would work for him. It’s not automatic. He does a great job on TV. Obviously he could stay in TV and do that for the rest of his career if that’s what he wanted.”
While his TV talent is hard to deny, his path to greener TV pastures could be a challenge. Orlovsky lacks the fame and career accolades of Aikman, Romo, Brady, or Peyton Manning. When you’re not a household name, a Super Bowl champion, a former Dallas Cowboy or a future Hall-of-Famer, the route to sports television’s most coveted assignments can be circuitous.
It is possible Orlovsky re-signed with the network because he likes where he is. His chemistry with the rest of the NFL Live cast is strong, and his appearances on ESPN’s daily talk shows allow him to connect with diverse audiences and stand out among his peers.
Orlovsky feels like an ESPN guy. But should he long for more, perhaps a spot on an “A” or “B” Sunday NFL crew, he’ll have to look outside ESPN and make some tough decisions about his broadcasting career.
