ESPN’s highest-profile SportsCenter is moving to Washington D.C.; ESPN anchor Cari Champion is leaving the company; the Mountain West has officially announced its new media rights deals.
Van Pelt SportsCenter moving to D.C.
The Scott Van Pelt-hosted Midnight ET SportsCenter is moving from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios to Washington D.C., Sports Business Daily reported Friday. The move, which will occur in August, will allow Van Pelt to work closer to his family. His SportsCenter will share the same studio as Pardon the Interruption.
The Van Pelt SportsCenter will be the first to originate entirely outside of Bristol or Los Angeles, though it will still produced remotely in Bristol. [Sports Business Daily 1.10]
SC anchor Champion leaving ESPN
ESPN SportsCenter anchor Cari Champion announced Thursday that she is leaving the network at the end of this month. Champion had been with ESPN since 2013 and, with the exception of a brief 2018 stint hosting SportsNation, co-hosted the Noon ET SportsCenter since 2016.
Champion’s departure will coincide with an overhaul of ESPN’s morning SportsCenter lineups. Her Noon ET partner David Lloyd will shift to the 7 AM SportsCenter on Mondays through Wednesdays, anchoring alongside Hannah Storm or Toni Collins. Filling the Noon vacancy will be Elle Duncan and Matt Barrie Mondays through Thursdays and Storm and Jay Harris on Fridays. [Champion/Twitter 1.9, ESPN PR 1.9]
MWC officially announces CBS, Fox deals
CBS and Fox Sports officially announced Thursday that they have reached six-year media rights deals with the Mountain West Conference through the 2025-26 season. The deals were first reported in November by Sports Business Daily. Under the deals, Fox will carry the conference’s football championship, which previously aired on ESPN. It will also hold exclusive rights to Boise State home games.
The CBS broadcast network will continue to televise conference’s basketball championship. [CBS Sports, Fox Sports]
