Report: ESPN Pursued Seth Meyers to Host Late Night Show

ESPN’s first choice to host a late night sports talks show on the network was liberal comedian Seth Meyers.

According to a report in BigLeadSports, ESPN president John Skipper “privately attempted to woo” the Saturday Night Live comedian and lead writer who will succeed Jimmy Fallon as the host of “Late Night” next year when Fallon takes over “The Tonight Show” franchise.

When confronted about the reports, Skipper told the outlet, “We um … look … we uh … we had some preliminary conversations with Seth Meyers’ representation because they were thinking about what he was going to do after this year.”

“We were interested, but clearly, he had a better opportunity,” he said. 

ESPN is serious about a late night program and sources told BigLeadSports that ESPN was “willing to make a lengthy, lucrative investment in Meyers.”