ESPN Wants Scott Van Pelt To Host Monday Night Football, But It's Complicated

ESPN wants Scott Van Pelt to host the Monday Night Countdown pregame show this season.

Richard Deitsch reported the news on Wednesday, with a note of clarification that Van Pelt has not accepted the deal:

The hold-up is likely the midnight SportsCenter, which Van Pelt hosts following Monday Night Football.

He could host both the pregame show and SportsCenter on Mondays during the football season. The midnight SportsCenter is the de-facto MNF postgame show, anyway. And it's common for a host to anchor both the pre-and-post game programs, think Ernie Johnson on TNT.

The challenge is, however, the rest of the week.

If ESPN is to open up Van Pelt's contract to add in Monday Night Countdown, he would likely be non-committal to continue hosting SportsCenter on a five-day-a-week basis.

In June, Van Pelt told SI he did not want to continue the show on weeknights beyond his current contract.

"No chance I’m doing that long," said of hosting for three more years.

The midnight SportsCenter, which also follows the NBA and College Football Playoff National Championship, is one of ESPN's tentpole properties. So, SVP stepping down from the show could spark pushback from management.

After all, ESPN does not have an in-house studio host equipped to host the show as Van Pelt has.

Joe Buck and Scott Van Pel on Monday Night Football.

Additionally, Van Pelt recently relocated to Washington, DC to raise his family. Hosting Countdown would force him to travel once a week to the site of Monday Night Football.

Does Van Pelt want to spend two nights on the road from September to January?

If he does, and accepts the job, he would succeed Suzy Kolber. ESPN laid off Kolber and Countdown analyst Steve Young in June.

ESPN hopes Van Pelt can succeed Chris Berman as the face of its NFL division, a title left vacant since the network forced Berman out in 2015.

Though unlike Berman, Van Pelt wouldn't host Sunday Countdown (Sam Ponder) or the NFL Draft (Mike Greenberg).

At least not this upcoming season.

Monday Night Countdown is the first opening ESPN has looked to fill since the talent layoffs last month. After, the network will shift focus to replacing Max Kellerman on morning radio, Jalen Rose on NBA Countdown, and Jeff Van Gundy on the NBA broadcast.

Finally, industry sources have along speculated that ESPN considers Van Pelt the favorite to one day replace Tony Kornheiser on PTI. (ESPN records PTI in DC.)

Kornheiser turns 76 this year. He could retire tomorrow. Or in five years. And if Van Pelt signs a deal to anchor Countdown, it could complicate a future opportunity to host PTI.

Any deal for NFL Countdown is likely to run through at least 2026 when ESPN/ABC host their first Super Bowl in over a decade, which the pregame will lead into.