On June 30, roughly 20 on-air personalities were laid off by ESPN. There were some shocking people let go like Jeff Van Gundy, Jalen Rose, and Suzy Kolber to name a few. Kolber spent 27 years with ESPN and she had been the host of Monday Night Football since 2015.
Today, Richard Deitsch of The Athletic reported that ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt is set to replace Suzy Kolber as the host of Monday Night Countdown. Steve Young, who had been with ESPN since 2006, was also laid off. Both Yonng and Kolber were part of Monday Night Countdown.
Scott Van Pelt can now add the host of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown to his resume
Update: ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt will become the new host of ‘Monday Night Countdown’, according to @richarddeitsch
It was recently reported that Laura Rutledge was also up for the role.https://t.co/qvMO61nYTm pic.twitter.com/jptj6ga8tL
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 19, 2023
Laura Rutledge, the Host of NFL Live since 2020, was also a reported finalist for the position. She has been with the company since 2014. Scott Van Pelt has been with ESPN since 2001. He’s been a long-time host of SportsCenter, hosted his own radio show, and covered major golf tournaments for ESPN.
Since 2015, SVP has been the solo anchor of the SportsCenter’s midnight edition. Monday Night Countdown has been on-air with ESPN since 1993. This broadcast is a two-hour-long pre-game show with in-depth interviews with coaches and players.
Scott Van Pelt will be getting the Monday Night Football Countdown job, via multiple sources.
As @AndrewMarchand reported: It was he and Laura Rutledge who were up for it but I’m told that decision has been made and all parties know.
It’s Van Pelt.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 19, 2023
Richard Deitsch did note that Van Pelt has not accepted the job from ESPN just yet. He said his tweet may have been premature, but all signs point to a deal being done. Scott Van Pelt is their top choice for the open Monday Night Countdown host.