Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo had a successful radio show with ESPN for years, before Van Pelt left in 2015 to host the midnight edition of SportsCenter. ESPN reportedly wanted to reunite the popular duo to replace Around the Horn, but Russillo opted to sign with Barstool Sports instead. Earlier this week, The Athletic reported the news that ESPN was interested in having Russillo and Van Pelt team back up together. “That was a bit of a selfish concept by me, because I was such a huge fan of those two when they were together years ago,” ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus told The Athletic. “It just so happened that Ryen was exploring his future on a similar timeline. He ended up doing something different.” Ryen Russillo and Scott Van Pelt hosted a show together from 2009-15. It started off as The Scott Van Pelt Show before later becoming SVP & Russillo. When Van Pelt left to host SportsCenter, Russillo stayed with ESPN until 2019, before joining Bill Simmons at The Ringer. He is now taking his show over to Barstool Sports, which is owned by Dave Portnoy. While Russillo will not be returning to ESPN, The Athletic reports that Van Pelt could still move into the 5 p.m. time slot to replace Around the Horn. In addition to Van Pelt, NFL analyst Peter Schrager and NBA analyst Brian Windhorst are also in contention to take over the 5 p.m. spot, according to the report. The Athletic reports that the new show will not start until 2026. The final episode of Around the Horn aired on May 23 as the show was canceled after 23 years. It was replaced by SportsCenter for now, with a new show, potentially hosted by Scott Van Pelt, set to start next year.
