Legendary ESPN Anchor Reveals Plan To Retire This Month

SportsCenter anchor Linda Cohn has announced her retirement from ESPN at the end of the month. She has hosted more SportsCenter episodes than anyone in ESPN history.

ESPN released a statement Monday revealing that Cohn will retire from SportsCenter this Friday, June 30, 2026.

Cohn started at SportsCenter on a Saturday morning at 2 a.m. and slowly became the face of the show. She first began on July 11, 1992, nearly 34 years ago. Cohn has hosted over 5,500 episodes of the program since then, with her 5,000th appearance in 2016. She was also inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in 2017.

Cohn said, "What I'm most proud of is that my career lasted long enough for me to see little girls grow up watching SportsCenter, enter this business, and succeed in it." She continued, "If my journey helped make that path a little easier for them, then that's the achievement I'll cherish most."

Cohn played hockey for Oswego State University in New York while in college, which often led her to cover hockey for ESPN. She even once participated in an open tryout for the Florida Panthers in 2015, something she considers one of her favorite memories. She was also best known for promoting the program, with her version of "This is SportsCenter" among the most well-known.

ESPN President of Content, Burke Magnus, said, "Linda Cohn is a legend and a major part of the history of ESPN. She has brought enthusiasm, personality and her love of sports to our audience for more than 30 years and her contributions to ESPN both in front of and behind the camera would make a very long list."

Before joining SportsCenter, Cohn was a news anchor, writer, and sports reporter for WALK-AM/FM in Patchogue, New York.

Cohn said in 2016 that during her first episode, "I just wanted to show the viewers, not only how much I knew sports, but, you know what, even more important, how much I loved sports."

Cohn will appear multiple times during her final show on Friday, including the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. SportCenter programs, as well as covering the NHL Draft with John Buccigross. She will finish her time with ESPN with the 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 8:47 PM.