Elle Duncan Surprised by Her Family During Emotional ESPN Sendoff

SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan is surprised by her family during her final broadcast with ESPN.
SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan is surprised by her family during her final broadcast with ESPN. / Via ESPN

Elle Duncan anchored her final episode of SportsCenter on Tuesday night after nearly a decade with ESPN. Her colleagues gave her an emotional sendoff, but her family won the night. During the closing segment, her husband and two children walked on set to surprise her.

Video of the final segment is below:

Duncan is leaving ESPN to join Netflix as the face of the network’s sports coverage. She posted a message to X following her final SportsCenter, thanking fans after the emotional sendoff by her family.

If they way her colleagues sent her off is any indication, Duncan will be missed in Bristol. SportsCenter aired video from a number of ESPN personalities wishing Duncan well:

The network posted the best (and worst) of Duncan’s segment “Taking the Elle”:

Duncan and Kevin Negandhi have anchored the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter together since 2021, while she has also hosted the women’s basketball edition of College GameDay and WNBA Countdown. Duncan joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor in May 2016 after two years as an anchor and reporter for NESN.

There is no word what Duncan’s specific role at Netflix will be, but the streamer has recently added NFL, Women’s World Cup and MLB games, and continues to add to its sports portfolio.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.