Longtime ESPN anchor Elle Duncan has landed a new job.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported on Monday that Duncan has reached an agreement to become the “face” of sports coverage on Netflix, which has been expanding in recent years. Duncan will become the first full-time sports personality to be hired by Netflix.
The deal is expected to allow Duncan to continue to appear on other networks, but Marchand says there is “pessimism” that the 42-year-old will remain with ESPN. Duncan and ESPN executives have been discussing ways that Duncan could continue to cover women’s basketball with the network even after beginning her career with Netflix.
Netflix has been expanding its live sports coverage in recent years, most notably with the exclusive rights to a pair of NFL games on Christmas Day. The streaming giant has also acquired rights to MLB games, the Women’s World Cup and certain events like the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight last year and another upcoming mega-bout featuring Paul.
Duncan has been the host of ESPN’s 6 p.m. edition of “SportsCenter” for the past five years. She also leads studio coverage for the WNBA. Duncan drew attention earlier this year for a crude joke she made during the WNBA All-Star Game.
