Freshly departed from The Worldwide Leader following a final night hosting SportsCenter during which he hurled expletives at Aaron Rodgers, Kenny Mayne may soon have some company in the ranks of unemployed ex-ESPN personalities.
Following more than two decades of service at ESPN, Neil Everett could be joining Mayne, who was offered a deal but became a “salary cap casualty” last month after 27 years working in Bristol, on the sidelines, according to Front Office Sports.
Having already cut ties with personalities like Mayne, Dan Le Batard, Mike Golic Sr. and Ariel Helwani, ESPN appears ready to move on from Everett, a staple at the network for 21 years who is best known for hosting the 1 a.m. edition of SportsCenter with longtime partner Stan Verrett, when his current deal expires this summer.
ESPN declined to comment about the matter, but Everett’s name was absent from an announcement last week that Verrett had signed a multi-year contract extension to continue hosting the 1 a.m. SportsCenter as well as occasional 11 p.m. editions.
“Back in 2015, ESPN jointly announced it was extending Everett and Verrett,” per FOS. “That raises the question whether Verrett would continue to anchor the 1 a.m. show without his longtime partner. Or if ESPN would slide another personality into Everett’s chair. Everett has personally referred to himself and Verrett as ‘joined at the hip.’”
As for Mayne, who departed from ESPN while other popular personalities like Chris Berman, Rece Davis and Tony Reali got new deals, he’ll be co-hosting a new, nightly NBC Sports series during the Tokyo Olympics alongside former ESPN star Cari Champion, according to Front Office Sports.
“We will be doing interviews, we will be doing highlights, and we’re going to make it our own,” Champion, who left ESPN in early 2020 after seven years with the network, told FOS.
“The person I’m going to be working with has a really great personality, he’s funny, and we have a good time together,” adds Champion. “While we both worked at ESPN for as long as we worked, I never once had the opportunity to host a show with him.”
When reached for comment, Mayne played it cool and close to the vest. “I would prefer to be coy and petulant,” Mayne said. “Aaron Rodgers has rubbed off on me.”
The Summer Olympics are set to begin in Japan on July 23 with Tokyo possibly placed in a quasi-state of emergency in order to accommodate the Games.
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