One of the most recognizable faces in sports television is signing off. Linda Cohn, the longest-tenured on-air personality in ESPN history, is retiring from the network on June 30, 2026, after 34 years as a SportsCenter anchor. Cohn joined ESPN in 1992 and became one of the defining voices of the Disney-owned sports network across three decades of sports media.
Variety confirmed the retirement, noting Cohn will anchor her final SportsCenter appearances during the network’s celebration of her career. Cohn joined ESPN at a time when SportsCenter was cementing its place as the definitive destination for sports highlights, and she grew alongside the show through its peak cable era dominance and into the streaming age, hosting more than 5,500 editions, the most of anyone in the program’s history.
A Trailblazing Career at Disney’s Sports Network
Cohn was one of the first women to anchor a national sports radio program, working in radio in New York before joining ESPN. At the network, she became a fixture on SportsCenter and earned a reputation for her depth of sports knowledge, her willingness to weigh in on hot-button sports debates, and her warm, authoritative on-camera presence. A former collegiate ice hockey goalie at SUNY Oswego, she was also a longtime contributor to ESPN’s hockey coverage.
Over 34 years she anchored thousands of SportsCenter editions and covered virtually every major sports moment of the cable era, from the height of the Jordan-era NBA through the rise of the NFL as America’s dominant sports property and into the streaming transformation that has reshaped ESPN’s business under Disney’s ownership. She also wrote a memoir, Cohnhead: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking into the Boys Club, chronicling her experience as a woman breaking into sports media.
ESPN at a Crossroads
Cohn’s retirement comes at a pivotal moment for ESPN. Disney is in the process of launching a standalone ESPN streaming service later in 2025, moving the network away from its cable roots and toward a direct-to-consumer model. The transition represents the most significant structural shift in ESPN’s history, and Cohn’s departure marks the end of an era for the version of the network that defined sports television for a generation.
ESPN plans to honor Cohn across special editions of SportsCenter, including a reunion with longtime co-host John Buccigross tied to its NHL Draft coverage. For more on Disney’s media business, see our coverage of Disney’s 2026 streaming and sports strategy.
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