After more than a decade as ESPN’s main postgame host, Scott Van Pelt could be moving up to an earlier timeslot.
Van Pelt is a leading candidate to host a show in the 5 PM ET ESPN slot that previously featured “Around the Horn,” Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported Tuesday — a role that would presumably necessitate a reduced role on his late night “SportsCenter,” which has become the primary ESPN postgame show.
ESPN president of content Burke Magnus confirmed that Van Pelt is a contender for the position and suggested that a move from late nights to 5 PM would be something of a relief for Van Pelt. Magnus: “I don’t want to speak for him, but I think there is a limit for how long people can have their lives upside-down from working late nights.”
Per Marchand, Van Pelt would “probably” continue to host some late night editions of “SportsCenter” following select marquee events.
It is not clear whether the potential 5 PM role would be another edition of “SportsCenter” or something entirely new. Magnus told Marchand that there was briefly a plan to pair Van Pelt with his former radio co-host Ryen Russillo, who recently left The Ringer for a role with Barstool Sports. Van Pelt left the “SVP and Russillo” radio show in order to take his current “SportsCenter” role in 2015.
When ESPN launched Van Pelt’s individually-branded “SportsCenter with SVP” in 2015, it was just the latest effort by the network to develop its Midnight ET window. The network tried many different shows in that slot on either ESPN or ESPN2 — from a late night talk show hosted by Jay Mohr to a nightly edition of “Outside the Lines” — before Van Pelt found success in the timeslot.
Eventually, his “SportsCenter” became the network’s main postgame show ahead of the 11 PM ET edition. In 2020, the show moved with Van Pelt from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters to Washington D.C., closer to his family.
“Around the Horn” aired in the 5 PM ET window for the entirety of its 23-year existence, which began in 2002 and ended this past May. Prior to “Around the Horn,” ESPN aired the short-lived Chris Connolly-fronted interview series “Unscripted” in that window. (Prior to the launch of “Pardon the Interruption” in 2001, the network’s 5 PM block was highlighted by the long-running interview series “Up Close” at 5:30, preceded by “a variety of programs” in the 5 PM slot.)
