Elle Duncan Gives Emotional ESPN Farewell To Join Netflix Sports
Elle Duncan Gives Emotional ESPN Farewell To Become Netflix’s First Sports Anchor
Netflix is increasing its reach across the sports world. In 2025, they’ll stream the NFL Christmas Day doubleheader and in 2026, will expand to FIFA games as the World Cup comes to the U.S., and major league baseball.
Now, they’ve found the face of their sports coverage. ESPN host Elle Duncan, 42, will move from the network to the streamer next year, becoming its first sports personality. Though terms were not disclosed, she is believed to have signed on for multiple years and will cover a variety of sports and cultural events.
Among her first assignments when she starts at the top of the year will be covering Alex Honnold’s Skyscraper Live. The legendary free climber who won an Oscar for his documentary Free Solo in 2019 will attempt to climb Taipei’s tallest skyscraper.
“Joining Netflix feels like being invited to an already legendary party and somehow getting handed the aux cord! For a lifelong utility player, a multisport assignment is a full-circle moment, and being trusted with something this one-of-a-kind feels incredibly special and surreal,” Duncan said. “I’m bringing boundless energy, storytelling, and bad puns no one asked for but will be subjected to anyway.”
Duncan hauled in the bag after years of multi-platform work on radio and TV. The Atlanta native started her career in radio as a host on the now-defunct sports station 790 The Zone and then went on to the Ryan Cameron Morning Show on Atlanta’s urban station V-103. From there, she moved into reporting and hosting roles for the Hawks and Falcons and for Comcast Sports South, where she covered SEC and ACC football. Duncan moved to Boston in 2014 to work for New England Sports Net (NESN), landing at ESPN in 2016.
Duncan is a familiar face across the network, particularly if you watch SportsCenter in prime time or women’s basketball. She hosted College GameDay and WNBA Countdown, forming the popular ‘Big 3’ with Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike.
On her farewell show, several of ESPN‘s current lineup of hosts, including Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, and Mina Kimes, bid her farewell, as did University of South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley. Duncan’s husband, Omar Abdul Ali, and their two kids also came through the SportsCenter set for her final show.
In her last broadcast, Duncan defended the network that has weathered some controversies over the years.
“Before I leave this desk, there is something I want to say. I see the headlines. Some are earned. Some, I believe, are not,” Duncan said. “And anyone in this chair knows that criticism is just part of the job, and you take it. But the faces of this place are not the soul of this place.”
She added, “The soul is the thousands of people who work here. No spotlight, and still all the scrutiny. People from every background, with every kind of belief, and from every zip code. There is no hidden agenda here, folks. Just the kind that many of you have there at home. To put food on the table, maybe to send your kids to college, do some work that matters. Build a life.”
Duncan also acknowledged her producers and fellow hosts, sharing how much she enjoyed her tenure at ESPN.
“And to you, my colleagues and peers, I want to say this directly. Thank you so much. Thank you for the send-off. Thank you for the hallway smiles, for the late nights researching, for the very early mornings. For saying my name in rooms that I was not in. For trusting me to toe the line and knowing when not to. For pushing me, holding me accountable, making this place feel as close to home as not-home can be. You made this last decade a gift.”
See social media saluting Duncan on a job well done below.
