The original co-hosts were Jay Crawford and Kit Hoover, with Thea Andrews serving as correspondent, and Leslie Maxie as the news anchor.

The executive producer/creator was Brian Donlon and he was assisted by Consulting Producer Steve Friedman, who oversaw NBC's Today Show during some of its most innovative and highly rated periods.

In the fall of 2004, in an attempt to heighten the sports news content of the program, newspaper columnists Woody Paige and Skip Bayless were added in a series of segments called 1st & 10.

More change followed, on November 28, 2006, Paige left the program citing health and personal reasons, leaving New York to return to the Denver Post, where he had been a longtime writer.

First Take (by this time with ESPN dropped from the show name) would eventually return to New York City in 2018 at the newly reconstructed Pier 17 at South Street Seaport.

On the road shows have included trips to Super Bowl XXXIX and XL and the Caesars Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

The intersection of sports and politics is rich with stories and we’re going to be there to cover each and every one of them.” Guests on the show have included Senator John McCain, Senator John Edwards, Rep.Dick Gephardt, Hank Aaron, rock star Bob Seger, who also served as the show's NBA analyst during the 2004 NBA Finals which featured the rocker's hometown Detroit Pistons, Pete Rose, Dennis Rodman, José Canseco, Senator Tom Davis, Mike Krzyzewski, Nick Lachey, X-Play Co-Host Morgan Webb and even the man that caught Barry Bonds' 715th home run ball.

[4] In addition to being able to cut costs and produce the program in high definition, the new locale allowed more live appearances by ESPN analysts (as opposed to satellite or telephone interviews).

After poor initial ratings, the format was changed to be similar to that of SportsCenter and Pardon the Interruption, including sports headlines, analysis, and debate.

Because of the format change, hosts Hoover and Maxie were let go due to lack of a sports journalism background, and Jacobson, Paige, and Bayless joined.

That show was cancelled in January 2006, and Andrews remained with ESPN until November 2006, when she left the company to work as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.