Changes are coming to ESPN’s signature program SportsCenter with some familiar faces taking on new roles with the network.
Sage Steele returns to ESPN HQ in Bristol, CT having signed a new multi-year contract. Beginning in late August Steele will host SportsCenter:AM from 7-10 a.m. ET Monday-Thursday. Steele also will continue to lead SportsCenter on the Road coverage from major events. The re-signing of Steele came with two years left on her contract. “Frankly, I hope to have 30 more years here at ESPN,” Steele told us in an interview last summer.
Hannah Storm has also signed a new deal. She’ll move off anchoring the 10 a.m. SportsCenter to hosting prime time specials for E:60 and SportsCenter.
Longtime SportsCenter anchors Steve Levy, Kenny Mayne, John Anderson and John Buccigross have signed new deals to continue with ESPN and will be the hosts of the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter. Mayne returns to Bristol, on a recurring basis, for the first time in 10 years.
These changes come a few weeks after ESPN cut nearly 100 staffers, many of them on-air talent. The network will also hold its upfront event for advertisers tomorrow in New York City, where many of these SportsCenter changes will be announced.
A couple years ago we took our cameras to Bristol to get a behind-the-scenes look at the now 38-year-old sports show, with Buccigross as our guide: