Scott Van Pelt doesn't see himself hosting SportsCenter for much longer

Since 2015, Scott Van Pelt has been a staple on TVs of night owls across the country. The SportsCenter host is known for welcoming fans with his “Best Thing I Saw Today” — and, of course, the popular “Bad Beats” during the week — as part of his entertaining late-night edition of the program.

Van Pelt looks in his element alongside Stanford Steve during the program from Washington, D.C. Still, it seems he’s thought about how much longer he’ll continue to welcome fans at midnight ET or so.

That was a question Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina asked Van Pelt this week on SI Media. Traina asked the ESPN veteran if he saw himself in the role in 10 years, five years or even three years. The latter timeline elicited an honest response from Van Pelt.

“Nah,” Van Pelt said. “I don’t think. My contract doesn’t run that long, and there are conversations to be had about what all is part of it. At some point you just gotta step aside and let somebody else have it.”

Van Pelt has been with ESPN since 2001 and, in addition to his work on the SportsCenter desk, has played a key role in the network’s golf coverage. Most recently, he was at the PGA Championship helping lead coverage.

In 2015, ESPN announced plans to give Van Pelt his own show out of the same studios where Pardon The Interruption is recorded. He’s been there ever since after big games — including Sunday Night Football — and whatever precedes the midnight ET time slot. It’s quite the grind, and he noted the importance of having big games tee up his show.

That’s not always the case.

“At some point, it’s Tuesday night and you’re following the White Sox and it’s like, that’s fun, too, but it’s just not the same level of juice as a night like this,” Van Pelt said. “Or you’re following taped programming, it’s a 30 for 30, and here you come. Coming off a game, at least there’s a game.”

If Van Pelt was to say goodbye, he made it clear it wouldn’t be a quick farewell. He also talked about how the industry is changing, though.

“I don’t think it would be cold turkey, goodbye, God bless,” Van Pelt said. “Listen, they have reestablished the market and they can come to me with LIV numbers and say to me, ‘Van Pelt, we really like this thing you do’ and they’d get you caught up to some of the numbers they’ve thrown around and you [think], they can roll people out there and I’ll be sitting out there going [in old man voice], ‘Let me tell you about the game tonight.’”