Earlier Wednesday morning, longtime analyst and host Maria Taylor announced she’s leaving ESPN.
“So thankful to Jimmy and all of my great teammates and friends at the SEC Network, College GameDay, Women’s and Men’s college basketball, and the NBA Countdown family — the people who believed in me, encouraged me, pushed me, and lifted me up,” Taylor said, via ESPN Press Room. “Words are inadequate to express my boundless appreciation, and I hope to make them proud.”
Taylor leaves just a few weeks after controversial comments made at her expense by Rachel Nichols. Taylor landed hosting duties for ESPN’s NBA coverage, which didn’t sit well with Nichols.
Following that controversy, Taylor decided not to renew her deal with ESPN. Instead, she’s reportedly headed to NBC, where she’ll dive right in to Olympics coverage for the network.
Here’s the latest, via Andrew Marchand of the New York Post:
Maria Taylor and ESPN are divorcing – and she is expected to end up with NBC and at the Olympics, The Post has learned.
For NBC, if a contract is completed, Taylor is expected to be part of its forthcoming Olympic coverage that begins in earnest on Friday.
While several sources said Taylor is headed to NBC, nothing is official yet. The top network spokesman is in Japan for the Olympics and did not immediately return messages.
Marchand noted a few roles that Taylor could take over at NBC in the coming years. He suggested she could immediately start working Notre Dame football games for the network.
Marchand also floated the idea that Taylor could take over for Mike Tirico as host of “Football Night in America” after Tirico takes over “Sunday Night” Football play-by-play position in the fall of 2022.
We’ll just have to wait and see what’s next.
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