It featured a roundtable discussion among four sports media personalities, with one regular host and three rotating guests.
[4] The Sports Reporters first aired in 1988 and was originally hosted by Gary Thorne, who was replaced by Dick Schaap later that year.
[1] Regular panelists included Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, John Feinstein of The Washington Post, Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press, Michael Wilbon also from the Washington Post, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, William C. Rhoden of The New York Times, Ralph Wiley of Sports Illustrated and Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.
Former panelists included Marcos Breton of The Sacramento Bee, Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports 1, Christine Brennan of USA Today, Tony Kornheiser of The Washington Post, Mike Downey of the Los Angeles Times, Roy S. Johnson of The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News and Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
As the show was based in New York City and then Bristol, Connecticut, the panelists were usually from the northeastern portion of the United States.
[8] After nearly 30 years on ESPN, the final episode of The Sports Reporters aired on May 7, 2017, with Lupica hosting, and Ryan, Rhoden, and Albom as the panelists.
[9] The show relaunched on the ESPN YouTube channel on September 3, 2024, with Jeremy Schaap in the host role featuring Joe Buck (ESPN), Mike Tirico (NBC), Ian Eagle (CBS) and Kevin Harlan (CBS and Westwood One Sports).