Photo Credit: NBC News
According to AdWeek, Maria Taylor, Studio Host, and Reporter for ESPN has left the network to join NBC Sports and potentially be a member of NBC’s Tokyo Olympics team.
“The departure had been expected since early this month when The New York Times reported on disparaging comments made about Taylor by one of her colleagues at ESPN, Rachel Nichols. In a conversation with an adviser to LeBron James that Nichols was unaware was being recorded, Nichols, who is white, said that Taylor, who is Black, had gotten the role of hosting the NBA finals instead of her because ESPN executives were “feeling pressure” on diversity according to an article in the New York Times.
ESPN shared on Wednesday, in a statement, that Taylor’s last day was her Finals telecast during Game 6 of the NBA Finals - with the Milwaukee Bucks taking the championship.
Because the pandemic pushed basketball into the summer for the past two seasons, Taylor exceeded her contract which was supposed to expire during the off-season for both the NBA and NFL. According to NY Mag / Intelligencer, “Taylor was reportedly offered $5 million per year during contract negotiations, which she turned down.”
Taylor could potentially be in the on-deck circle to become the host of Football Night in America since Mike Tirico is moving to Sunday Night Football full-time in the fall of 2022.