ESPN Announces Scott Van Pelt as ‘Monday Night Countdown’ Host
ESPN has announced the roster for its new Monday Night Countdown crew, and longtime SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt will be joining the broadcast. The network made the announcement ahead of its first broadcast of the season, Monday’s preseason game between the Ravens and Commanders.
Besides having Van Pelt serve as host for Monday Night Countdown, ESPN announced that it has agreed to a multiyear contract extension with Van Pelt, who joined the network in 2001. The anchor has hosted a nighttime episode of SportsCenter after Monday Night Football since he began working as a solo host in 2015.
Two more newcomers will join Van Pelt on the broadcast, as veteran analysts and former players Ryan Clark and Marcus Spears will be featured on Monday Night Countdown for the first time. Three ESPN personalities, Robert Griffin III, Adam Schefter and Michelle Beisner-Buck, return to this year’s crew. Two other former players, Alex Smith and Larry Fitzgerald, are slated to make multiple appearances throughout the season.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman return for their second year broadcasting on Monday Night Football, with sideline reporter Lisa Salters and officiating expert John Parry also working on their crew.
The first Monday night game of the 2023 NFL season is scheduled for Sept. 11, when the Jets host the Bills in Aaron Rodgers’s New York debut.
In recent months, ESPN has laid off a number of it on-air personalities, including veteran host Suzy Kolber, who spent 27 years with the network and most recently served as the host of Monday Night Countdown. Steve Young, Matt Hasselbeck and Keyshawn Johnson are also former Monday Night Countdown analysts with whom ESPN has parted ways.
