Report: Rich Eisen returning to ESPN as part of D2C service

More than 20 years after leaving ESPN as one of its better-known personalities, Rich Eisen is forming a partnership with the network to return to its airwaves, The Athletic reported Monday.

"The Rich Eisen Show," which airs on Roku, will move to ESPN's direct-to-consumer television product that is expected to launch later this year.

Eisen, 55, was a SportsCenter anchor at ESPN from 1996-2003 before moving to the NFL Network, where he continues to be a contributor. He launched "The Rich Eisen Show" in 2014 as a combination television show/sports talk radio simulcast.

The show previously aired on the Audience Network before moving to the NBC Sports Network, the streaming service Peacock, and then Roku in 2022.

Eisen will continue to own the show and generate all of its content in a deal with ESPN that works much like "The Pat McAfee Show," according to the report. No terms of the deal between Eisen and ESPN were announced. McAfee's deal with ESPN was for five years and more than $85 million, according to The Athletic.

"The Rich Eisen Show" is not expected to air on the flagship ESPN channel or ESPN2 but is expected to be available on ESPN+, as well as the direct-to-consumer entity.

It is not yet known if the program also will air on ESPN Radio. The audio-only portion of the show currently is distributed by Westwood One and also can be heard on SiriusXM.

--Field Level Media