ESPN cuts ties with Elle Duncan after surprise…
Elle Duncan won’t stay at ESPN as she strikes to Netflix to grow to be the new face of the streaming service’s sports activities programming, according to The Athletic.
Duncan — who co-hosts “SportsCenter” at 6 p.m. with Kevin Negandhi and is the lead host for girls’s basketball at the Worldwide Leader — will totally half methods with the community after The Athletic initially reported Monday it was still doable she might double dip.
Duncan’s ESPN contract runs through the end of the 12 months.
Elle Duncan attends Broadcasting + Cable Hall Of Fame Awards thirty third Anniversary Gala at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 30, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images
Netflix reportedly might attempt and get Duncan out of her ESPN deal early to put her on the streaming service’s slate of NFL video games on Christmas Day.
There is no unhealthy blood between Duncan and ESPN, according to The Athletic, which said she is a favourite of the community’s chairman, Jimmy Pitaro.
Elle Duncan talks during the sport between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury during Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on October 8, 2025 at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NBAE via Getty Images
Duncan’s deal with Netflix will embody a “substantial raise” from her ESPN wage, and it can permit her to “work much less,” according to The Athletic. She could also work some non-sports occasions.
As half of the deal, Duncan reportedly might still seem on other networks or platforms — but Netflix may have precedence over her providers, ought to there be any scheduling conflicts.
Netflix also has the rights to MLB Opening Day in March between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, and the Women’s World Cup in 2027.
The news of Duncan’s soar to Netflix set off a “stampede” of other on-air abilities eyeing her prestigious roles within ESPN, according to Front Office Sports.
(L-R) Elle Duncan, Chiney Ogwumike, Andraya Carter and Paige Bueckers, the Dallas Wings No. 1 general choose, communicate during the 2025 WNBA Draft on April 14, 2025 at the Shed in New York City, New York. NBAE via Getty Images
“The resumes are flying. There’s going to be a lot of people fighting for these jobs. Burke’s phone is going to be lighting up,” one source told the outlet, referring to ESPN president of content Burke Magnus.
Duncan is the ladies’s faculty basketball host for “College GameDay” and host of “WNBA Countdown,” which covers the WNBA Draft, WNBA All-Star and the WNBA playoffs.
Duncan was a half of the countdown crew with Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter, who garnered the nickname the “Big 3” as ESPN centered the enlargement of its girls’s sports activities coverage around them.
ESPN will doubtless take a few months to audition people inside and exterior the community for Duncan’s roles — and they gained’t rush into hiring Duncan’s replacements, as the community did when Molly Qerim left “First Take” in September.
ESPN announced Shae Cornette, a former “SportsCenter” host, as Qerim’s successor a month later.
Last 12 months, ESPN shared expertise with Netflix when NFL analyst Mina Kimes and NFL host and sideline reporter Laura Rutledge during the 2024 Christmas Day NFL video games.
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