Scott Van Pelt (born July 9, 1966) is an American sportscaster and sports

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

host employed by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. He is a long time anchor of key editions of '' SportsCenter'' on ESPN, served as the co-host of '' SVP & Russillo'' alongside Ryen Russillo on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

, and hosts various major

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

events for the network. For the 2023–24 NFL season, Van Pelt took over as host of '' Monday Night Countdown''.

Early life and education

Van Pelt was born in Brookeville, Maryland, and grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. He attended Flower Valley Elementary School in Rockville, Maryland. He graduated from Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, Maryland, and from the University of Maryland in 1988 where he studied radio/television and film. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Career

Van Pelt began his career in sportscasting in 1990 at WTTG-TV, a FOX affiliate in Washington, D.C. From 1995 to 2000, Van Pelt worked for the Golf Channel, where he was a studio host for some of the network's signature programs. He left the channel in 2001 to join

, where he serves as a '' SportsCenter'' anchor, and is one of the network's top

correspondents, covering major tournaments such as the Masters Tournament. After acquiring the cable rights to the tournament, Van Pelt appeared on ESPN's coverage of

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. He is a prominent personality for

, where he was the co-host of ''Tirico and Van Pelt'' alongside Mike Tirico before the program was canceled and replaced with Van Pelt's own three-hour program, ''The Scott Van Pelt Show'', in 2009. The show was renamed '' SVP & Russillo'' in October 2012 with Van Pelt working with Ryen Russillo. He is a studio presenter for the ESPN Network's ''Friday Night College Football'' on ESPN. Van Pelt has also appeared as a commentator in golf video games, alongside Kelly Tilghman on

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

' '' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10'' and '' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11'' and in a comedic turn in '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am''. In 2012, Van Pelt made the decision to stay with ESPN. In May 2015, the network announced Van Pelt would leave the radio show ''SVP & Russillo'' to become a solo anchor for a midnight edition of ''SportsCenter'', which began in late summer 2015. The midnight show covers sports events from the day, but includes additional commentary from Van Pelt and some popular elements from the radio show. ESPN's 2025 TGL golf league broadcasts feature Van Pelt as host from his ''SportsCenter'' studio in Washington (with the exception of the SoFi Cup Finals hosted on-site at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens), and Matt Barrie calling the play, with Marty Smith conducting sideline reports.

Personal life

Van Pelt's grandfather, Lorenzo, immigrated to the U.S. from Italy and lived in Brooklyn. Van Pelt and wife Stephanie have three children.

References

External links

ESPN bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Pelt, Scott American television sports announcers American sports radio personalities ESPN people American golf commentators College football announcers University of Maryland, College Park alumni Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Maryland Living people Year of birth missing (living people)