Report: NBC Trying To Poach ESPN's Maria Taylor For Olympics

Maria Taylor

NBC is trying to sign ESPN’s Maria Taylor so she can be part of its Olympic coverage that begins in a little more than a week on July 23, The NY Post reports.

Taylor is hosting the NBA Finals for ESPN, but her contract runs out on July 20. Game 6 is Tuesday, July 20, while a potential Game 7 is scheduled for next Thursday, July 22.

If Taylor were to leave, ESPN would have the unorthodox scenario of potentially having a different host to end a marquee event than the one who started it.

ESPN could try to see if Taylor would stay through the Finals, even if she decided to go with NBC.

No final decision has been made by Taylor, but one is expected soon.

ESPN has offered Taylor a contract in the neighborhood of $3 million per year, according to sources.

The Post reported a week ago that NBC and Amazon had interest in Taylor and that Taylor could succeed Mike Tirico as the host of “Football Night in America” after this season. Tirico is expected to replace Al Michaels as the main play-by-player on “Sunday Night Football” in 2022-23.

Taylor’s negotiations have yet to heat up with Amazon, however NBC is expected to produce its exclusive Thursday night package that will begin in 2022-23. Sources said the Amazon-NBC contract is likely to be a three-year deal with Amazon having the option to extend it to five.

This would bring over “Sunday Night Football” producer, Fred Gaudelli. The idea is for Michaels, who is in the final year of his NBC contract, to be wooed to be the Amazon play-by-player with a potential run at Peyton Manning as analyst. Taylor could be the sideline reporter, if all goes to plan.

The drama over Taylor’s contract comes on the heels of The New York Times’ story that contained a year-old video of fellow ESPN NBA host/reporter Rachel Nichols saying in a private conversation that she was going to lose her job as host of the NBA Finals because ESPN wanted to rectify its poor record on diversity.