ESPN Bringing Back Major Host After 23 Years Away

One of SportsCenter‘s biggest names is making a return to ESPN after 23 years elsewhere.

Rich Eisen, one of the biggest names in sports broadcasting, left ESPN in 2003 to become the face of NFL Network and host of The Rich Eisen Show. Now, he will soon return to ESPN as part of its upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service.

Sources at The Athletic say the popular sports commentator is set to move The Rich Eisen Show to ESPN, although he will remain the star of NFL Network with his hosting duties of GameDay and as lead commentator on the network’s draft coverage and broadcast games.

Similarly to The Pat McAfee Show, the new iteration of Eisen’s show will simply be licensed by ESPN, meaning Eisen will retain full creative and editorial control over the content of the series. It will air on ESPN+ and whatever the new service ends up being titled. It’s also likely that the radio version of The Rich Eisen Show will move to ESPN Radio from its current home at Westwood One and SiriusXM.

Eisen, however, will not appear on any of ESPN’s cable networks, like ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNews.

It’s a big move for the sports network, as it actively ramps up its production output after stiff competition from competing channels like Fox Sports in recent years.

The terms of the deal are not yet public, and there is no date on when Eisen will make the jump back to his former TV home.