It’s been less than eight months since Jason Kelce announced his retirement after 13 seasons as starting center for the Philadelphia Eagles—but he’s not taking it easy. Just weeks after announcing that he was leaving the NFL, Kelce signed on to co-host ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. Now the network appears to have even bigger plans for the Super Bowl Champion.
According to Puck’s Jason Ourand, ESPN executives are currently discussing the possibility of Kelce hosting his own late-night talk show for the sports network.
“Kelce’s people and the network are still trying to nail down the specifics, but my sources say the gig wouldn’t be a highlight or recap show,” writes Ourand. “Rather, the concept that seems to have gained the most traction is a late-night show, featuring Kelce with other athletes and celebrities. The show would be produced by NFL Films and licensed to ESPN, which will air it on five consecutive Friday nights—likely 1 a.m. ET on Saturday, to be precise—starting in January, with the hope that the show will create clips that go viral on social over the weekend.”
As a cable network, the cord-cutting trend has hit ESPN harder than its broadcast network counterparts—though leveraging the power of social media platforms to reach younger audiences and drive brand awareness is an equal opportunity dilemma.
“Late-night programming designed to generate viral moments for YouTube or TikTok won’t reverse the tide of cord-cutting, but it’s smart top-of-funnel marketing for a brand that needs to increase its relevance with younger consumers as it prepares to launch a direct-to-consumer shingle—code-named ‘Flagship’—next fall,” writes Ourland.
While Kelce’s deal with ESPN may not be as lucrative as its top-tier talents like Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith (who has very publicly voiced his desire to host a late-night show, and even guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live!), his name already carries a lot of weight with the audience they’re hoping to attract.
In 2022, Kelce and his brother Travis (yes, the same Travis Kelce who once hosted SNL and is currently dating Taylor Swift) launched their own podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. In August, they signed an advertising deal with Amazon’s Wondery worth more than $100 million. While the podcast is sports-focused, they also take time to address such burning topics as: Did Jason fall asleep at Swift’s Miami Eras show?
For the moment, all of this is just speculation. But if a January premiere is what ESPN is aiming for, expect to hear more soon.
