ESPN reporter Michele Steele announces her exit after 14 years

Michele Steele and ESPN are parting ways.

Steele has been a frequent face for the network since 2011, but she announced Thursday that she is in her final two weeks with ESPN.

“I’m turning the page,” Steele posted to her X. “After a 14-year journey at ESPN, spanning assignments in Bristol, Boston, and Chicago, this chapter as a bureau reporter concludes on Aug. 1.”

Steele joined ESPN after being an anchor for Bloomberg Television and the network’s first full-time sports reporter.  

In her 14 years, she has made appearances for “SportsCenter,” “NFL Live,” “Outside the Lines” and ESPN’s digital platforms across the numerous cities that she mentioned in her farewell message.

“My Day 1 assignment in the Boston bureau was the day Aaron Hernandez was arrested – fulfilling my dad’s prophecy that you really will be surprised what you wind up doing in life,” Steele wrote. “Great times with great people covering Monday Night Football on SportsCenter, the women’s hoops juggernaut, the National Spelling Bee and the Warrior Games, which I loved so much because of my family’s military connection. Along the way, there was a heavy dose of SportsCenter anchoring and a little podcasting, too.”

While it’s unclear what has led to the split, the 46-year-old had kind words for the network.

“ESPN has some of the best storytellers, producers and editors around,” she wrote. “I’m thankful to have learned so much.”

It’s unclear what’s next for Steele in her career.

“Recently, I shared advice on a friend’s podcast for those entering the industry: ‘walk through open doors.’ Don’t be too rigid about your career, open yourself to possibilities,” Steele continued. “It’s that approach that got me from reporting on Wall Street to the anchor chair in Bristol and front and center at championship games. Now, I’m taking my own advice.”

Steele is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), where she is president of the association’s sports task force.