• Loading stock data...
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Tuned In returns to NYC on September 16. Hear from the biggest names in sports media. Click here to get your spot
exclusive
Media

Jay Harris Signs Long-Term Contract Extension To Stay At ESPN

  • ESPN SportsCenter anchor Jay Harris happy about contract extension: ‘I’m where I want to be, doing what I love to do.”
  • TV audiences for Harris and Hannah Storm’s Tuesday morning SportsCenter rose 8% in September.
Dec 17, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN sportscaster Jay Harris on the field prior to the Celebration Bowl between the Grambling State Tigers and the North Carolina Central Eagles at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s Jay Harris has signed a long-term contract extension that will keep him on the SportsCenter desk well past his 17th anniversary with the network next year.

“I’m happy. I’m where I want to be, doing what I love to do. I have no complaints,” said Harris.

Only a few years ago, media experts were predicting the death of ESPN’s flagship SportsCenter franchise. Since fans could get the game highlights they wanted on their cell phones, the desire for that on television was ending, they said.

However, Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive senior vice president of studio and event production, ordered up a back-to-basics approach on SportsCenter. Williamson counted on veterans like Harris, Hannah Storm, Kevin Negandhi, Kenny Mayne and Sage Steele, along with relative newcomers like Elle Duncan, to deliver the SportsCenter fans knew and loved.

There’s more straight news, highlights and storytelling; less opinion and debate. Since then, the show’s numbers have rebounded in a big way.

Take the 7 a.m. Tuesday morning SportsCenter, currently co-anchored by Harris and Storm after Monday Night Football. The Harris-Storm edition averaged 328,000 viewers in September, up 8% from September, 2018. It marked their show’s fifth increase over the last six months in year-over-year gains.

Harris and Storm also co-host SportsCenter on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Their weekend SportsCenter:AM posted it’s fifth consecutive month of year-over-year increases in September. The combined Saturday-Sunday shows averaged 637,000 viewers, up 11% from the same period last year.

Storm calls Harris a “giving colleague” who’s easy to work with. “He’s so relaxed and confident on the air,” she said.

Meanwhile, Negandhi/Steele’s 6 p.m SportsCenter grew its September viewership 12% to an average 576,000 viewers vs. 513,000 the same period last year. 

Scott Van Pelt’s solo midnight SportsCenter was up 6% to 526,000 average viewers.

Things are always changing in sports TV. Harris says the decline and fall of SportsCenter was greatly exaggerated.

“We are really good at what we do. I don’t mind tooting our own horn. And people recognize that. That’s why they come back,” Harris said. “That’s why they turn on the television and watch the highlights because it’s something different from what they can get on their phone. They like the personalities.”

READ MORE: Cassidy Hubbarth’s Hoop Streams To Become Season-Long ESPN Show

There had also been the criticism that ESPN and its studio shows like SportsCenter were diving too much into politics. 

When he came over from parent Disney, new ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro laid down the law: Avoid pure politics unless sports and politics legitimately intersected on a story. Pitaro had to call Dan Le Batard on the carpet this summer after the TV/radio host went off about Trump, 

Harris said he agrees with Williamson/Pitaro approach, with the proof being that 
ESPN’s numbers are up virtually across the board.

“We don’t plan SportsCenter around Congressional hearings. We talk about the stories as they come up. And whatever substance is in said story. That was another narrative that got out of hand.”

There’s always been a big, vocal segment of ESPN viewers who want the network to just stick to sports. 

READ MORE: His & Hers: Jemele Hill, Michael Smith Could Reunite Again

One problem nagging ESPN is that the debate over Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players kneeling for social justice became so incendiary in a divided country that media were blamed just for covering it, said Harris.

“They didn’t want to hear it. That’s another problem that I can’t solve in society. People not wanting to come out of their own silos –  and listen to different opinions on different things. Just listen. People don’t like to listen. People don’t like to read. People don’t get past the headlines. I think we cover the news. We cover stories. We always have and always will.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Coco Gauff at New York Liberty

How the New York Liberty Became the Hottest Ticket in Town

Once banished to the burbs, the Libs are now Brooklyn’s marquee attraction.
Leo Messi
exclusive

MLS Commissioner Don Garber Defends Messi Suspension

Messi was punished for skipping the MLS All-Star Game.
Carlos Correa
exclusive

Twins Moving Toward Selling Team After Deadline Teardown

Minnesota moved about 40% of its roster ahead of the trade deadline.
Michael Johnson
exclusive

Grand Slam Track Misses Deadline to Pay Athletes $3 Million

The league said it would pay athletes for their Kingston meet Thursday.

Featured Today

Las Vegas sign

College Sports Embracing Vegas After Years of Cold Shoulder

The Big Ten became the latest newcomer to Sin City.
2000, Jupiter, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Montreal Expos pitcher Hideki Irabu in action on the mound against the New York Mets at Roger Dean Stadium during Spring Training
July 28, 2025

Dead Sports Franchises Are Alive and Well on Twitter

The Expos, Sonics, and Whalers have active social media accounts.
Limited Hype
July 27, 2025

Sneaker Reselling Was Once Easy Money. Success Is Now Complicated

Vendors need to evolve what they’re selling and how they do it.
HAPPY GILMORE 2. BTS - (L to R) Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore and Rory McIlroy as himself on the set of Happy Gilmore2.
July 26, 2025

‘Cool As Hell’: How ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Hooked Golf’s Top Stars

The process was “cool as hell,” Adam Sandler tells FOS.
Jul 15, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts to the crowd as they take on the Connecticut Sun in the first quarter at TD Garden.

WNBA Viewership Up Across All Networks Compared to 2024

Non-Fever games are up 37% compared to the full 2024 season.
Jul 27, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Kia Nurse (11) drives to the basket against Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) during the second half at United Center.
July 29, 2025

Fever-Sky Draws 1.5M Viewers Despite Clark, Reese Absences

Clark and Reese both missed the game due to injury.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) celebrates winning Sunday, July 27, 2025, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
July 30, 2025

Amazon, TNT Post Near-Identical NASCAR Ratings in Debut Season

The cable channel is a new media-rights partner this season.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
July 29, 2025

WBD Restructuring Shows What’s Old Is New Again

WBD will become Warner Bros. and Discovery Global as two separate entities.
July 24, 2025

CBS Sports to Get New Owner As Skydance Merger Clears FCC Hurdle

The long-awaited, but highly debated, merger gains regulatory approval.
Dec 7, 2024; New York, New York, USA; A general view of Times Square during the MLS Cup Times Square Watch Party prior to the game between the LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls.
July 24, 2025

MLS Reveals Apple TV Streaming Numbers, Raising Questions

The league gives a rare glimpse inside the high-profile streaming pact.
A Peacock sideline reporter holds a microphone with the NBC Peacock logo during Michigan State's football game against Washington on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
July 24, 2025

‘Unusual’: NBCU’s Surprise Interest in a New Cable Sports Network

Its previous channel NBCSN was shuttered less than four years ago.