Sports broadcaster Elle Duncan wanted more than ESPN had to offer her.
During Front Office Sports’ “Tuned In” summit in New York on Tuesday, Duncan — who formerly co-hosted “SportsCenter” at 6 p.m. with Kevin Negandhi and was the lead host for women’s basketball at the Worldwide Leader — recalled her decision to turn down a four- to five-year deal with ESPN in December to join Netflix as the streaming giant’s lead host for sports and live events.
“When you Doctor Strange the next five years of your life, which is what I was doing — ESPN was offering me a four- or five-year deal. And I said to myself, ‘If I’m doing the exact same thing right now, in five years, would I be happy?’ And I ultimately landed at the answer of no,” Duncan said.
“Because I wanted to explore other opportunities, other things, and just test myself and test my mettle. And I’ve been able to do that.”
Duncan hosted her first event for Netflix, “Skyscraper Live,” on Jan. 23, 2026, in which free-solo climber Alex Honnold scaled Taipei 101 without safety equipment.
She recounted preparing for the broadcast, which included an on-air contingency plan if Honnold fell to his death.
“But I think that for me, it was really about the challenge of doing some of these really interesting and unique projects that I never would have had an opportunity to do before,” she said. “Definitely did not have it on my bingo card that I would be watching a man climb a building live without ropes. I think that’s what it was, it was the white space.
“When I signed on for Netflix we had six events that’s it. And I knew that they were growing and that they were moving in the space and that they were going to be adding more things. But for me, it was the unknown, which is very scary, but also wildly exciting.
Duncan explained that she simply outgrew her role at ESPN and that her decision to move on wasn’t forced.
“Sometimes in life we are forced into change, we are forced to pivot. We are forced to take growth opportunities,” she said. “I think my decision to go to Netflix was not forced, and that is even more difficult. To choose a potential growth opportunity without knowing if you’re gonna like [it]… it’s tough.
“But I also think that, if you don’t ever leave, you won’t know… And I can tell you on the other side of this… It’s really rewarding sometimes, you just don’t know what you need until you go out there and look, and that’s what I did.”
After a year on the job, Duncan said things are “going really well” despite some “challenges and wrinkles” along the way as Netflix establishes itself in the live events space.
“It’s been almost a year now, and Netflix made no qualms about the challenge ahead if I decided to take the opportunity that they were building the plane as they were flying it,” Duncan added. “And so there are challenges, there are wrinkles, but I think what’s really cool is just the pride. I’m so proud of this team.
“Netflix is being held to the same standards as these legacy media companies that have been around for 50 years. But they’re doing it with a lot less experience and a very small but mighty crew, and so anything that we do, I know how hard it was to get on air, and I am so proud of us.”
