Scott Van Pelt was born in Brookeville, Maryland, and grew up in the Washington area. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1988 with a degree in radio, television, and film. Van Pelt broke into local news at WTTG, a Fox affiliate, before spending six years as a Golf Channel anchor. He joined ESPN in 2001 as the network’s lead golf reporter.
Van Pelt spent his early ESPN years on radio, co-hosting Tirico and Van Pelt with Mike Tirico each weekday afternoon. He later launched his own program, which became SVP & Russillo with Ryen Russillo in 2012. That show ended in 2015 as Van Pelt prepared to launch a new SportsCenter format. He also contributed to ESPN College GameDay for several years with a recurring on-campus feature.
Scott Van Pelt has anchored the midnight edition of SportsCenter as a solo host since 2015. Since August 2023, he has also hosted Monday Night Countdown, ESPN’s pregame show for Monday Night Football. Addiotionally, he is the network’s lead voice for golf and now hosts ESPN’s TGL league broadcasts as well.
