Scott Van Pelt has hosted big ESPN shows for more than 20 years now, but the past half-decade has seen the biggest changes in sports media since his career began. That’s because on YouTube and podcasts and even TV, athletes have surpassed journalists as the main voices cutting through to sports fans.
So these days, when Van Pelt sits down to host the midnight SportsCenter, he may be interviewing a star athlete who has their own platform to get a message across or break down a big game. They don’t have to give Van Pelt all the good stuff. However, SVP doesn’t believe this age of “new media” is fully a bad thing.
In an appearance on the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast, Van Pelt gave his thoughts on how his job has changed at a time when everyone from the Kelces to LeBron James have their own platforms or friends in high places to say their piece.
“There’s a clear understanding among athletes that you own your voice, and you are in charge of your voice, and you have agency over yourselves to share that voice the way you want to. And I think it’s been great for people to learn about athletes in a different way,” Van Pelt said. “Because athletes have a space that they control the narrative … it’s very different.”
Van Pelt referenced a joke he made when Jason Kelce was still playing and shirked a postgame interview after Monday Night Football, leading Van Pelt to say Kelce must be saving it for his podcast.
Of course Van Pelt said it in jest, but there is some truth to it. He sees his job as focusing on the big moments and emotions of the game that just happened, and tries to keep the focus there to get the best answers from athletes in the thrill of competition.
“It is interesting that if you have something impactful and important that you want to say, you want to say it on your platform, the way you want to say it,” Van Pelt said.
“But I do think what I have with athletes is a trust. I think people respect that I respect them, and know that … you’re not going to get got. That’s not what it’s about. I’m trying to have a genuine conversation, and I’m interested in the things that are related to the competition.
“And I think I’m good at having conversations that can pull out the emotions and the answers that are related to that that are interesting to me and the audience. I still think we can have those conversations, even if you have a lane that you want to be the driver of that content. I get it. So it’s different, but I also think it’s made [athletes] more comfortable in talking about themselves in a way that’s maybe less guarded when you do have the conversations.”
Van Pelt attributes part of his effectiveness as an interviewer to his own longevity. After being at ESPN for so long and hosting the midnight SportsCenter for nearly a decade, Van Pelt feels that most athletes know who he is and what he does.
That helps him cut to the chase and trust that there will be a mutual respect with the interviewee.
“I’ve done it long enough that I don’t meet strangers, if that makes sense,” Van Pelt told the Kelces. “I’m not saying this just to be an a**, but you probably have some idea who I am, and I know who you are. So even if we’ve never talked, we’re familiar with each other. And hopefully you’re familiar with how I approach things.”
By keeping the focus of the interview narrow and handling his business with class, Van Pelt has effectively taken over postgame coverage across every sport Sunday through Thursday on ESPN. But that doesn’t mean he’s not mindful of how to approach his craft in the changing sports media landscape.