Maria Taylor already has made the switch officially from covering the NBA Finals at ESPN to the Olympics for NBC.
The 34-year-old reporter and host made her Summer Olympics debut Friday night from Tokyo, welcomed to the NBC Sports coverage team by anchor Mike Tirico mere days after her official departure from ESPN. Taylor and ESPN were able to agree on a contract extension.
“It’s an honor to be a part of this team and the Olympic legacy,” Taylor said, before later tweeting that it was her “Olympic dream come true.”
Taylor also will cover the NFL for NBC, including as a host and contributor for Football Night in America on Sundays, as well as Super Bowls and other assignments.
“Incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work with…the entire NBC Sports family,” Taylor said Friday in a statement. “Literally, hosting the Olympics, Football Night in America, and the Super Bowl is what I dreamed of when I started in television – and this would not be possible without standing on the shoulders of all of those who came before me and made this path possible. And I plan to pay it forward.”
The Post’s Andrew Marchand broke the news of Taylor’s new gig, just weeks after the New York Times first reported the existence of a year-old audio tape recording containing leaked comments in which fellow host Rachel Nichols alleged that ESPN gave Taylor the Finals hosting job to make up for what Nichols described as the network’s “crappy longtime record on diversity.” Nichols later was taken off the NBA Finals sideline by the network, although she maintained her hosting duties on “The Jump.”