Maria Taylor could go from hosting the NBA Finals on ABC to working the Olympics as an NBC employee in mere days.
Taylor — the ESPN NBA studio host whose contract expires Tuesday — is close to a deal with NBC Sports, according to Front Office Sports and the New York Post. The Post reported late Wednesday that NBC is trying to sign Taylor in time for her to join its Tokyo Summer Olympics coverage that begins next week.
It is not clear whether Taylor would finish the NBA Finals if it goes to a seventh game on July 22, two days after her contract with ESPN expires.
As has been previously reported, ESPN and Taylor are said to be several million dollars apart on a new deal. Per Front Office Sports, ESPN is offering Taylor $3 million per year and she wants $5 million or more. Per previous reporting by the New York Post, ESPN originally offered Taylor $5 million per year back in March of last year, but Taylor was seeking more at that time.
The Front Office Sports report left open the possibility that Taylor’s deal with NBC would not be exclusive, allowing her to also add a role with Amazon. Per the Post, NBC is expected to produce Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package that begins in 2022 and Taylor could serve as a sideline reporter for that broadcast “if all goes to plan.”
Taylor has been with ESPN since 2014, serving as the lead sideline reporter for its college football games and the host of its Women’s NCAA Tournament coverage. She began hosting NBA Countdown in 2019 and was named host of ABC’s NBA Finals coverage — a role originally promised to Rachel Nichols — the following year.
