ESPN studio host and reporter Maria Taylor is leaving ESPN, the network’s PR team confirmed Wednesday. According to multiple reports, Taylor is poised to join NBC Sports, and if a contract is completed, she’s expected to be a member of NBC’s Tokyo Olympics team. (TVNewser)
The departure had been expected since early this month, when The New York Times reported on disparaging comments made about Taylor by one of her colleagues at ESPN, Rachel Nichols. In a conversation with an adviser to LeBron James that Nichols was unaware was being recorded, Nichols, who is white, said that Taylor, who is Black, had gotten the role of hosting the NBA finals instead of her because ESPN executives were “feeling pressure” on diversity. (NYT)
Earlier this month, the network announced that Taylor would return as the pregame and halftime host for the NBA Finals, which wrapped Tuesday night with the Milwaukee Bucks taking the championship. ESPN said in its statement Wednesday that Taylor’s last assignment for the network was her Finals telecast during Game 6. (NBC News)
Taylor’s contract was supposed to expire during the off-season of the NBA and NFL, the two leagues she primarily covered for ESPN, but the pandemic shifted basketball into the summer for the past two seasons. Taylor was reportedly offered $5 million per year during contract negotiations, which she turned down, according to the New York Post. (NY Mag / Intelligencer)
With NBC, Taylor also could be waiting in the on-deck circle to become the host of Football Night in America, when Mike Tirico moves to the full-time Sunday Night Football play-by-play position in the fall of 2022. (NY Post)