Former “SportsCenter” anchor Elle Duncan is officially headed to Netflix.
Netflix officially announced its hire of Duncan Thursday, making her its first full-time sportscaster. The announcement came less than a month after the news was originally reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
Duncan is set to host sports and “live events,” debuting with a January 23 special in which a free solo climber will attempt to scale a building in Taiwan.
As evidenced by the debut assignment, Duncan’s responsibilities will not solely include traditional sportscasts. While Netflix is clearly growing its footprint in live sports, the streamer’s lineup is simply nowhere close to full enough to sustain a regular on-air role.
Duncan will presumably be a part of Netflix newly-acquired Major League Baseball broadcasts next year — the Yankees-Giants Opening Night game, Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams Game — plus next year’s Christmas Day NFL games and any boxing coverage. In 2027, it stands to reason that she will host the streamer’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
But beyond that, Duncan would probably need to take on a secondary role at a competing network — which is allowed under her contract, according to Marchand’s initial report — in order to make more than a handful of live sports appearances per year.
Netflix has thus far relied on talent from other networks for its live sports productions, but as it has steadily increased its presence in sports television, its competitors have been less willing to share personnel. It remains to be seen whether that reluctance will extend to working with Netflix talent.
With ESPN, Duncan was a longtime “SportsCenter” anchor and host of the network’s women’s college basketball and WNBA studio shows. She hosted her final “SportsCenter” earlier this week. Christine Williamson is expected to replace her on the 6 PM ET edition of “SportsCenter” and on women’s college games.
