Anchor Ryan Smith Signs New Deal With ESPN, Expanding Role on “SportsCenter”

ESPN Anchor and legal analyst Ryan Smith has signed a new, multiyear deal with the network that will also see him take an expanded role on SportsCenter.

What’s Happening:

  • ESPN has re-signed anchor and legal analyst Ryan Smith to a new, multiyear deal and has moved the Philadelphia-area native into an expanded role with SportsCenter.
  • As part of his new deal, Smith’s position as an anchor for SportsCenter has been expanded from a fill-in status to a permanent co-anchor of the 7 a.m. ET edition of ESPN’s signature news and information program for several days each week.
  • In addition, Smith is continuing his role as a legal analyst and is reporting feature stories and investigative pieces across multiple ESPN platforms, and for ABC News. He also continues as a fill-in host for other editions of SportsCenter as well as Get Up and Outside the Lines.
  • Smith joined ESPN fulltime in 2017 after having contributed as a legal analyst and fill-in host for Outside the Lines since he joined ABC in 2014.
  • Before joining ABC News, Smith served as the nightly news anchor at CNN’s Headline News, where he reported on a variety of stories including the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School and some of the most high-profile trials including those of Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman.
  • A graduate of Syracuse University and Columbia Law, Smith previously served as an attorney for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and practiced Sports and Entertainment Law in New York City.

Sign up for Disney+ or the Disney Streaming Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu) now