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Ever-Ready Zubin Mehenti Agrees To Multiyear Deal With ESPN

Versatile SportsCenter anchor has been at the center of 2018's biggest breaking news stories

Zubin Mehenti reports from the SportsCenter set. (Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

No one will ever accuse SportsCenter anchor Zubin Mehenti of laziness. It’s just not in his makeup.

Mehenti is well-known within the walls of ESPN for his hard work, willingness to go the extra 10 miles and his team player attitude. He has now brought that tireless work ethic into a new, multiyear contract with the company and he couldn’t be happier.

“This is the only place I’ve ever worked where there is no ceiling,” he said. “I got my five-year [Walt Disney Company Cast Member Service Award] pin. I still feel like it’s a honeymoon pin, and it’ll be seven years for me in December.

“The minute you walk into this place, it’s amazingly inspiring for anybody who’s worked as a PA, or worked as a brand-new anchor, that Joe Tessitore could be calling a motorcycle jump in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve and now he’s calling Monday Night Football. To think that that’s possible at the company is amazing. You can come in anywhere in the company. It’s a fostering, great environment.”

Mehenti’s work ethic was on display as three high-profile news stories broke in recent months and SportsCenter went into extra innings to cover them.

  • On July 1, after already hosting a two-hour SportsCenter, Mehenti then anchored solo for three hours as the news broke of LeBron James signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. “We emptied the NBA holster that night,” he said. “Every analyst and reporter we could get was on the show.”
  • On Aug. 22, Mehenti was on the desk when SportsCenter broke into regular programming for 90 minutes to cover the suspension of Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer.
  • On Oct. 6 and into the early morning hours of Oct. 7, Mehenti co-hosted SportsCenter with Michael Eaves leading into the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov MMA bout then remained at ESPN until 3:30 a.m. ET in case he was needed as the post-fight melee was sorted out and covered from ESPN’s Los Angeles studio.

While now primarily appearing on late-night editions of SportsCenter, Mehenti has done many other things at ESPN including ESPN Goal Line, College Football Live, halftimes of college basketball and WNBA games, ESPN Radio shows, SEC Network shows, a college football podcast and more.

“It’s always important to have a supporter at any company, and for me, that’s been [ESPN VP, Studio Production] Mike McQuade,” said Mehenti, who is originally from East Windsor, N.J., and is a proud Rutgers University graduate. “I was very grateful that he had a lot of confidence in me.”

“No one works harder, is more prepared and owns the content like Zubin,” said McQuade. “His immense amount of positive energy makes him invaluable to SportsCenter.”

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