ESPN today announced This Was SportsCenter: Stories from the Set, a new ESPN video podcast hosted and produced by Rich Eisen, premieres Friday, June 5. The highly anticipated six-episode first season takes fans behind the scenes of the iconic SportsCenter set and newsroom during the late 1990s and early 2000s, featuring firsthand stories and memories from many of the personalities who helped define the show’s cultural impact.

Aligned with Disney+’s “Throwback Summer” campaign, new episodes will premiere every Friday across Disney+, ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited and ESPN Select plan subscribers, and all major podcast services, with the first episode featuring Dan Patrick debuting on June 5. Episode 2, featuring the legendary Chris Berman will drop on Monday, June 8, recorded live at the Strand Theater in San Francisco, CA during Super Bowl week this past February. 

Other featured guests throughout the series include Mike Greenberg (June 12), Linda Cohn (June 19), Chris Fowler (June 26), and a season concluding chat with Craig Kilborn (July 3). Each episode explores different perspectives on their time at SportsCenter and the role it played in shaping their careers. Eisen’s in-studio interviews revisits the moments, stories and personalities that helped transform SportsCenter into a genre-defining sports news and highlights franchise.

“SportsCenter has been the centerpiece of ESPN since its launch,” said Mike Foss, Executive Vice President, Executive Editor, Sports News and Entertainment. “Rich was the perfect person to host these conversations, bringing his own perspective alongside the voices and stories that helped define SportsCenter through the years, while also showing how the brand continues to connect with fans and shape sports culture today.” 

“The moment my daily Rich Eisen Show reunited me with ESPN, I knew I had to create this show,” said Eisen, CEO of Rich Eisen Productions and SportsCenter host from 1996-2003. “I’ve lost track of the number of times people have come up to me over the years to say how I either helped put them on a school bus in the morning or stayed up procrastinating late-night in college thanks to SportsCenter. For those folks, I’m about to inject, as Stuart Scott might call it, straight-butter nostalgia into their veins.” 

Disney+’s “Throwback Summer” campaign celebrates the fan-favorite movies, shows and personalities that defined the late 1990s and early 2000s. The summer-long initiative features curated throwback collections, returning classics, immersive fan experiences and new original programming inspired by beloved Disney Channel and Hulu titles. As part of the campaign, This Was SportsCenter: Stories from the Set joins a lineup of nostalgic content celebrating the era’s lasting cultural impact across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN 

This Was SportsCenter: Stories from the Set, produced by Rich Eisen Productions and produced and edited by Rich Eisen Show Emmy-nominated coordinating producer, Mike Hoskyns. 

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