ESPN Drafts Elle Duncan For ‘SportsCenter’ Anchor Team
After back-to-back days of losing top on-air talent, ESPN has a new anchor for its signature program. Elle Duncan, who is familiar to New England sports fans as an anchor-reporter for NESN in Boston, is joining the Worldwide Leader as a SportsCenter anchor.
Duncan has been an anchor, host and reporter for the regional New England Sports Network for the past two years, most recently hosting the daily programs NESN Live and NESN Sports Today. Before that, the Atlanta native had worked in sports and hip-hop radio since launching her career in 2003.
She starts her ESPN tour in May, but the company didn’t specify which SportsCenter slots she would anchor nor how often.
“ESPN was the first entity and remains one that marries its own personalities and sportscasting with entertainment, and I feel that ESPN has always been ahead of the curve in that sense,” Duncan said. “I think of myself to be the same way – someone who loves and enjoys sports and wants to talk about them in a knowledgeable but entertaining way, and to me this truly is a dream come true.”
Her hire comes in the wake of three high-profile exits from ESPN in the past week. The company said Monday that its longtime Monday Night Football play-by-play man Mike Tirico is leaving to join NBC Sports, and news broke Tuesday that ultra-opinionated First Take stalwart Skip Bayless will depart after his contract expires in August. Last week, ESPN fired baseball analyst Curt Schilling for an anti-transgender posting on social media.
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Skip Bayless Leaving ESPN In Network's Latest High-Profile Exit
ESPN's Play-By-Play Staple Mike Tirico Heading To NBC
Curt Schilling Talks About His ESPN Firing, Denies He's Transphobic
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