Rachel Nichols during Los Angeles Lakers media day
Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Following leaked audio in 2021 of Rachel Nichols implying that the network assigned Maria Taylor to host the 2020 NBA Finals because she is Black, Nichols’ daily ESPN show, The Jump, was cancelled later that summer. Nichols was removed from all NBA responsibilities before eventually negotiating a contract settlement and leaving the network in January 2022.
The journalist and sportscaster landed at Fox Sports in 2023, and currently co-hosts Sports Illustrated’s Open Floor: SI’s NBA Show podcast alongside Chris Mannix and Evan Turner.
On Wednesday, Variety’s Brian Steinberg reported that Nichols will host a new weekday show for SI, The Story with Rachel Nichols, which will stream weekdays at 9 a.m. ET on the FAST channel SI TV, beginning Monday, Oct. 19.
“We see scores, we see highlights. They’re in our face more than they’ve ever been. You can literally access them 24/7 in your pocket. And what we lose in that a little bit is, what does it all mean? What is it really about? Why is this important?” Nichols told Variety in an interview.
“When I cover sports, it hasn’t just been an X’s and O’s kind of things. There are a lot of societal issues and a lot of big picture things. And even within a game, there are heroes and there are villains, and there’s conflict. It’s not just about one basket. What I’m really looking forward to in this show is to be able to say, ‘Here are some quick hits about what stories are about over a variety of sports.'”
Nichols’ new series joins a growing list of original programming from SI. Editor-in-chief Stephen Cannella says that the content plan isn’t to replicate SportsCenter‘s coverage, but rather to approach sports from a broader lens and offer “perspective on sports, to discuss what it all means,” while providing new opportunities for sponsorships and potential ad integrations.
The Story will stream on SI.com and Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel in addition to SI TV, which is available on streaming venues such as Xumo Play, Amazon Fire TV, The Roku Channel, DirecTV, and others. Sports Illustrated has delved into television content in the past with a joint product alongside CNN when both were part of the Time Warner entertainment conglomerate running from 1996 and lasting through 2002 before closing after failing to gain traction with cable systems.
Cannella believes that this time around, SI TV’s mix of live telecasts, original programming, and material from the Sports Illustrated archives will help it gain engagement across a wide swath of different sports fandoms.
“People are into more sports, a wider variety of sports. Even people who weren’t sports fans now have some hook into it, you know?” Nichols said. “I think that sports is sort of the big tent we all have left.”
Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President, Media Distribution
Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President, Media Distribution