On Monday night’s edition of ESPN’s SportsCenter, Rich Eisen shared an emotional tribute to his former colleague and friend, Stuart Scott.
Rich Eisen Praises Stuart Scott On SportsCenter
Eisen has returned to the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
For the first time since the early 2000s, Eisen anchored Monday night’s edition of SportsCenter.
Eisen departed ESPN for the NFL Network in June 2003, where he has remained ever since. However, Eisen and ESPN agreed to bring The Rich Eisen Show, to Disney+ and ESPN+ this fall.
Eisen will remain with the NFL Network as a broadcaster.
In honor of Eisen’s partnership with ESPN, the Emmy-nominated anchor hosted SportsCenter. Eisen worked at ESPN from 1996 to 2003 and rose to prominence as an anchor on SportsCenter.
Eisen and Scott formed one of SportsCenter’s best duos thanks to their innate chemistry and on-air humor.
In 2015, Scott died at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer.
During Monday’s SportsCenter, Eisen shared an emotional tribute to his late co-worker.
“It has been a blast being here tonight, but listen, we all know there should be someone else right here in this chair next to me,” Eisen said as he pointed to Scott’s picture. “Right there, as he was for my seven years in the role. He referred to me as his TV wife, and that’s my dear late friend Stuart Scott, who is indeed looking over my shoulder tonight.”
Eisen continued, “I frequently think of Stuart a lot and what he might think of the sports headlines today. Like, say, Bill Belichick being the head football coach at his beloved school. We used to host SportsCenters after LeBron’s high school games. So what would Stuart think of James still playing at age 40 with 40,000 points? And with all these new crossing of sports TV streams, like, say, ESPN buying NFL Network and partnering up with my daily show. What would it look like if Stuart sat in with, say, Ernie, Shaq, Kenny and Charles when Inside the NBA comes here to ESPN this fall?
With tears in his eyes, Eisen added, “I miss Stuart so very much.”
Rich Eisen Begins Partnership With ESPN
ESPN is entering a new era.
On Thursday, Aug. 21, ESPN launches its direct-to-consumer (DTC) service. For $29.99 pr month, consumers can receive ESPN networks without a cable subscription.
The DTC service includes access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX.
Eisen’s show will be available on ESPN’s DTC service when it debuts on Sept. 2.
ESPN’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) service is coming just in time for football season. The new service launches on Thursday, August 21.
With ESPN and NFL Media agreeing to a historic rights agreement, Eisen could be on ESPN airwaves even more this time next year.
