Report: Stan Verrett, ESPN parting ways after 25 years

It’s the end of an era at ESPN. According to a new report, ESPN is parting ways with the longtime SportsCenter anchor Stan Verrett after 25 years.

Stan Verrett began his career on the radio and local television in Virginia. He’d move up, associated with an ABC affiliate, before eventually landing at ESPN. He also spent time in Louisiana with an NBC affiliate before joining ESPN in 2000.

Initially, he was an ESPNEWS anchor. Then, in April of 2009, he began working from ESPN’s Los Angeles studio. There, he became popular for his shows alongside co-anchor Neil Everett. In 2023, Everett made the decision to retire.

This comes as ESPN is making some major changes to its programming. In March, it was announced that the network is set to be moved to Bristol, Connecticut. That meant that SportsCenter employees based in Los Angeles would need to move across the country to the other studio. That is about 35 total employees who were impacted.

“Based on our current business needs, we are relocating the L.A.-based ‘SportsCenter’ and soccer studio shows to ESPN’s Bristol headquarters, including the limited number of employee positions related to these shows,” ESPN said in a statement to SBJ. “The Los Angeles Production Center will continue to host ESPN’s NBA studio productions and provide office space to additional L.A.-based employees.”

ESPN has also been working toward a stand-alone, direct-to-consumer, streaming service. The bundle price for that was also recently announced, with the price expected to come in at $29.99 per month without the need for traditional cable. A release date is expected later in the summer.

Stan Verrett is set to see his run with ESPN come to an end later in the summer. His contract is coming to an end and the network doesn’t intend on renewing his deal. Despite that, he’s still scheduled to continue to work ahead of their parting. Since his departure is due to his contract not being renewed, that’s not a surprise that he’ll work through the end of his deal.

His final weeks with ESPN are going to include anchoring SportsCenter and, beginning on June 27th, appearing at stops for the promotion of “50 States in 50 Days.” That’s an event for the launch of ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer launch.

At this time, ESPN has not made a comment about the decision. Stan Verrett, for his part, has not publicly commented on the decision yet either.