Rich Eisen will host SportsCenter from Bristol, Connecticut, on Sunday night into Monday morning at midnight ET, returning to headquarters for the first time in 23 years. Eisen has not been back to Bristol since leaving SportsCenter in 2003.
That appearance puts one of ’s most familiar voices back in the chair that helped make him a star. Eisen was a SportsCenter anchor from 1996 to 2003, and he last hosted the show in August, his first time doing so since 2003, after The Rich Eisen Show joined Disney and platforms.
The most surprising part may be who he will sit beside. Dan Patrick told Eisen, “I’m going to be co-hosting with you Sunday night on SportsCenter,” a reunion of two anchors who defined much of the show’s glory years. Eisen answered, “By the way, that would make my day, night, and year to do another SportsCenter with you, Dan,” and added, “If you’re up for it, I would love to do something like that, one day.”
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Patrick, who anchored SportsCenter from 1989 to 2006, tried to swat away the idea with a joke: “It’s too late for me.” He added, “How about an ESPNews shift, like at two in the afternoon?” and then recalled how different the grind used to be, saying he used to drink four 20 oz. bottles of Coca-Cola every night just so he would be alive at 11 o’clock. He said he worried he would not get to bed until two in the morning because he was still alive at midnight, and that he was so concerned about having enough energy on SportsCenter he would be chugging Coca-Cola throughout the night.
The reunion lands at a moment when both men have talked openly about missing the old SportsCenter rhythm. They have each said they still have recurring dreams about those years, when the show was the center of ’s identity and the anchors were as recognizable as the highlights. Patrick has also said he cannot imagine how difficult being a SportsCenter anchor is these days, a line that lands differently now that Eisen is stepping back into the booth for another overnight shift.
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For Eisen, the return is more than a cameo. It is a full-circle night back where his national career took shape, with Patrick beside him and Bristol back in view after more than two decades away.
