Tony Reali Around the Horn Edit by Liam McGuire, Comeback Media.
By Sam Neumann on

Tony Reali got a raw deal.

Much like Max Kellerman before him, Reali deserved more from ESPN. A whole lot more. Because whatever this is — gestures broadly at the slow drip farewell tour they’ve decided to give him — it feels hollow. It feels like it’s designed to honor the institution of Around the Horn more than the person who turned it into something worth watching in the first place.

Sure, the institution deserves to be celebrated. But Tony Reali does, too. He is the reason it lasted this long.

Let’s be clear: Reali isn’t just a solid host. He’s not just a familiar face. He’s one of the last remaining people in sports media who can balance thoughtful perspective with genuine empathy, who can be silly and cerebral in the same breath, and who, somehow, made a show built on “points” actually feel like it had a point.

But more than that, Tony Reali is the very best of us.

We’ve seen it in the kind gestures, especially lately, as former panelists like Pablo Torre and Marcel Louis-Jacques have shared stories of the messages, voicemails, late-night check-ins, and quiet words of encouragement Reali sent, often when no one else was paying attention.

We saw it when David Dennis Jr.’s young son, Langston, visited with his father on the Around the Horn set for the last time. Reali took a moment to speak directly to him, saying, “You could come up with the next game, you could code the next game, you could play the next game, and make money like that. I want you to promise me that you’re going to follow your dreams, whatever they may be. And that you can be the best Langston in the world.”

It was a small moment, but it encapsulated everything we’ve learned about Tony Reali: his kindness, his mentorship, and his belief in others.

We’ve seen it in his mental health advocacy, where he’s spoken openly and vulnerably in ways that probably saved lives, even if they never made the A-block.

One such instance was with Mike Ryan, who recently stepped back as the executive producer of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz but remains a Meadowlark Media mainstay. Ryan once flew to New York to seek guidance from Reali while struggling with anxiety and depression. That’s the kind of impact we’re talking about.

“God bless Tony Reali,” Ryan said. “I don’t get through any of that without Tony Reali… Tony Reali was a lifesaver for me, in terms of normalizing and seeing, this guy operates at a high level.”

At his core, Reali is a good human being. The kind who fought to keep Around the Horn moving, not because it was his vehicle, but because it gave others a platform. Because it brought diverse voices together and gave them space to speak. Because he believed sports talk could be smarter, more inclusive, and more joyful.

So yes, losing Around the Horn stings. But networks and businesses have the right to make decisions in their best interest. That’s not the hard part to swallow here.

The hard part is this: Tony Reali is still under contract through the summer. There’s been no movement on a new deal. He’s in talks with NBC about a possible Olympics role. And ESPN looks increasingly comfortable letting him walk.

This is the part that is hard to square, given ESPN’s history with well-known, easy-to-work-with, loyal, fairly compensated, highly professional, and regarded talent.

It’s not unusual for ESPN to phase out a show. It happens. But when they value the person, they usually find a way to keep them around. Sometimes, even when things didn’t work out. When Jessica Mendoza had to be removed from Sunday Night Baseball because of an egregious editorial misstep by the network, she was given a soft landing to remain with ESPN’s MLB coverage, but in a lesser role.

Booger McFarland was pulled from Monday Night Football and landed in a studio where he is a key personality for the network. Sean McDonough, Steve Levy, and Joe Tessitore all were given a crack as announcers on Monday Night Football and didn’t work out, but because they were popular internally all continue to play major roles for the network. Pablo Torre and Bomani Jones continued with other assignments when High Noon was canceled. The closest comparison is that Max Kellerman got This Just In after they decided his fit at First Take no longer made sense.

What will it say if ESPN moves on from Reali without giving him a similar soft landing or second chance that it has extended to other highly regarded on-air talent?

This isn’t a guy who bombed a high-profile gig. He’s not a reclamation product or an individual with baggage and failure attached to his name.  He succeeded quietly, consistently, and over two decades. He was the showrunner, the host, the conscience, the connective tissue. He made Around the Horn matter longer than anyone thought possible. And even as the format aged, Reali evolved. He was nimble, sharp, and capable of more. We saw it when he filled in on Good Morning America. But ESPN never built anything else around him, nor does it seem interested in doing so.

It’s hard to understand why someone who did everything right might not be given another opportunity.

Tony Reali could’ve been the face of the network. Instead, the guy they used to call “stat boy” on Pardon the Interruption is nearing the end of his ESPN run with more grace than the situation deserves.

Because, of course, he is.

He’s Tony Reali.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann