Scott Van Pelt
Jul
24
It’s Official: Scott Van Pelt Signs New ESPN Contract; Adds College Football Duties
Earlier this summer, Scott Van Pelt announced that he was staying at ESPN after overtures from Fox and NBC. Van Pelt has become one of the more popular personalities at the Alleged Worldwide Leader after coming over from Golf Channel. He will continue hosting his ESPN Radio show from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. ET.
In addition, Scott will be in the 11 p.m. rotation for SportsCenter and remain on the golf beat on the major tournaments. He will pick up college football duties especially for College GameDay. Van Pelt will travel to some GameDay sites and he will be part of the network’s BCS Championship Game coverage.
No financial terms of the agreement were disclosed. Here’s the press release.
Van Pelt Signs Extension with ESPN – Adds College GameDay Role
ESPN SportsCenter anchor and ESPN Radio host Scott Van Pelt has signed a multi-year extension which will add several on-site College GameDay appearances throughout the football season. He will travel to some of the GameDaylocations in support of his features, interviews and reports related to the game, teams and players involved. He will also be part of the network’s BCS Championship Game coverage.
Van Pelt, who joined ESPN in spring 2001 as its lead professional golf reporter, will remain among SportsCenter’s 11 p.m. ET anchors, and continue to host ESPN Radio’s Scott Van Pelt Show (M-F 1-4 p.m., simulcast 1-3 p.m. on ESPNEWS). He will also remain as the lead reporter and host of the network’s major golf coverage, including the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.
“Scott’s versatility makes him a valuable member of the ESPN team and we’re pleased he’s staying with us,” said Mark Gross, senior vice president and executive producer, production. “The GameDay opportunity provides Scott with yet another platform on which to express his enthusiasm, insight and opinion.”
“The things I got to do, and the people I got to do them with, ultimately I couldn’t walk away from,” Van Pelt said in this Front and Center podcast on ESPNFrontRow.com.
Van Pelt joined ESPN from The Golf Channel where he was an anchor and reporter for the sport-specific network from 1994-2000. Following Tiger Woods’ victory at the 1997 Masters (his first at the tournament), Van Pelt conducted an exclusive half-hour interview with the young Woods for a critically acclaimed network special, Tiger Woods: In His Own Words.
Van Pelt began his sports broadcasting career at WTTG-TV (FOX) in Washington, D.C., in 1990. He worked in WTTG sports studio production department contributing content for the station’s The 10:00 News, Sunday Night’s Sports Extra and specials on the Washington Redskins.
A native of Brookville, Md., Van Pelt graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in radio/television and film.
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Mar
15
A Couple of Early Thursday Sports Media Thoughts
I’m writing this past midnight on a Thursday. I want to sleep, but I’ll pound this out to get these off my chest. This will be in bullet form as always.
- It seems every sports media writer and blogger has offered thoughts and potential landing spots for ESPN’s Big Three Free Agents, Michelle Beadle, Erin Andrews and Scott Van Pelt. All are coveted within ESPN circles and while the Alleged Worldwide Leader has in the past stepped up to keep their free agents from flying the coop, the network may be hard pressed to keep all in the Bristol nest this time around. Let’s handicap all three and give a prediction on where each could possibly sign.
Starting with Michelle Beadle, the co-host of ESPN2′s SportsNation, she has made it no secret that she’d like to branch out from sports. While she has enjoyed co-hosting with SportsNation with Colin Cowherd, he has said he wants to leave that show by next year. Could that influence Michelle’s thinking? Absolutely. Michelle is not the typical ESPN’er. She speaks her mind. She’s not afraid to mention or talk to ESPN’s arch-enemy, Deadspin. Michelle has a block of ESPN higher up’s solidly in her corner, but even with that said, I think she leaves Bristol and heads to New York or LA to host an entertainment show or become a panelist on a talk show.
Erin Andrews has become a rock star at the Alleged Worldwide Leader and to be honest, I was a little surprised when she signed a contract to return to ESPN back in 2010. I don’t think she’ll stay this time around. I think she could go to NBC which can give her a combination package of Access Hollywood, the Today Show, the Olympics, other major sporting events like the Super Bowl and maybe a special or two every year on NBC Sports Network. Erin’s days as a sideline reporter are over.
Scott Van Pelt was lured to ESPN from Golf Channel and while NBC can offer him a role on his old home and on the PGA Tour, a possible hosting job on the Olympics, a regular show on NBCSN and even more if The Group gets more inventory, I think he stays in Bristol. Van Pelt likes hosting his radio show and I predict he’ll get an expanded role on SportsCenter plus host ESPN’s big events.
- Can we get Bonnie Bernstein a major radio or TV gig soon? She deserves it.
- Lastly, I want to do a mailbag soon so if you have a sports media question, send it to kzf1@fangsbites.com. One e-mailer at random will get the first season DVD of VH1′s Mob Wives courtesy of Klout. I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
I’m done.
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