ESPN’s Maria Taylor has been making the news lately but not for the best reasons, as she got caught up in controversy due to Rachel Nichols’ comments on her.
According to Nichols, ESPN only assigned her to cover the NBA Finals because of her race, citing that she had earned that spot instead. Needless to say, Nichols faced a lot of backlash following that leaked audio.
But now that Nichols has apologized and ESPN assigned him to sideline duties, it seems like the Taylor story is far from over. According to a recent report, NBC and Amazon want to lure her away from ESPN, as they’re not meeting her salary demands:
“After her private and insensitive comments were made public, ESPN’s Rachel Nichols was dropped from the sidelines to start the NBA Finals broadcast.
Now it is unclear whether host Maria Taylor will finish the league’s marquee event. This is despite a lucrative contract offer,” reported the New York Post.
“Though it isn’t “Stephen A Smith money,” ESPN has a contract on the table for Taylor in the neighborhood of $3 million per year, The Post has learned.
The deal represents roughly three times more than her current $1 million per year.
Sources said Taylor has interest from both NBC and Amazon, while CBS, Fox and TNT are not involved,” the report concluded.
Taylor is an up-and-coming figure around the basketball broadcasting community and it’s not a surprise to see multiple networks going to war over her services. Moreover, her contract with ESPN will run out precisely the same day as Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
So, after all the controversy, it seems like ESPN will have to dig deeper into their pockets if they want to keep her.
