Linda Cohn is retiring from a week from Tuesday after 34 years with the network. Her final SportsCenter appearance will come Friday, when she guests on the 6, 10 and 11 PM ET editions.
Linda Cohn and SportsCenter
Cohn’s run began in 1992, and she has anchored more editions of SportsCenter than any other host. That gives Friday a clear end point for a long stretch that has made her one of the defining names on the show.
announced the retirement on Monday, setting the timeline in motion before her last appearance at the end of the week. For viewers who have followed SportsCenter through multiple eras, the shift is not just about one anchor stepping away; it closes out a tenure that stretched across 34 years and a large share of the show’s modern history.
’s role change
The retirement follows a period in which and Cohn could not agree on a new role before her contract expired. That leaves no transition to another on-air position inside the network, only the Friday guest appearance and then the end of her run a week from Tuesday.
Her statement through leaned forward rather than back. She said she is “grateful for every moment,” “inspired and energized by the opportunities that lie ahead,” and that her “story is still being written.” The wording points to an exit from, not from the sport itself.
After the final broadcast
Cohn has also contributed to ’s NHL and WNBA coverage at various points, including a stint as a WNBA play-by-play voice in 2006. That extra work sat alongside the anchor role that made her the most frequent SportsCenter host in the company’s history.
Her departure also lands after shut down the Los Angeles-based SportsCenter she regularly hosted about a year before Monday’s announcement, part of a broader scaling back of operations at the network’s L.A. production center. Stan Verrett left shortly after that shutdown, and other long-tenured SportsCenter anchors such as Neil Everett, John Anderson and Kenny Mayne have also moved on in recent years.
Friday now stands as the last on-air stop inside. After the 6, 10 and 11 PM ET editions, the network loses the anchor who spent 34 years building the show’s most durable run.
