October 25, 2009: ESPN s Rachel Nichols on the field prior to the NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers gave the Vikings their first lose of the season with a 27-17 win. - ZUMAcs7
Rachel Nichols has joined Showtime’s sports division as a producer and host and will work on basketball based content
Matt Barnes has confirmed that Rachel Nichols has joined Showtime Sports and will be working with their basketball division. Barnes announced it in episode of his podcast “All the Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.” The episode was actually an interview with Rachel Nichols and Barnes made the announcement before moving onto the real questions. Barnes welcomed Nichols to the Showtime family and said that he looked forward to working with her.
Nichols said she’s happy to join a team that wants each other to win, support one another and work together. She said it was a big thing that she was looking for after leaving ESPN. Nichols loved the ideology behind the Showtime project and bringing people to the table as they are.
The Rachel Nichols Showtime move is a good one for both parties. Nichols has more than 25 years of experience in the field of Sports Journalism and Reporting. Showtime provide her with a comfortable atmosphere to thrive.
Rachel Nichols was caught in a scandal last year surrounding things that she said while alone in a hotel room. In 2020 Rachel was all set to host the coverage for the NBA Finals that took place in the bubble. At the NBA Bubble a private call with a friend was recorded in 2020 and then leaked last year.
In that call Nichols was unhappy with ESPN, condemning them for trying to take away her role as Finals host. The reason that Nichols said that ESPN were doing that was their “crappy longtime record on diversity.” Nichols publicly apologized for her comments but was removed from her position as sideline reporter for the 2020-21 NBA Finals.
ESPN subsequently removed her from all programming and cancelled her show “The Jump.” Nichols and ESPN agreed a settlement in January this year. Before joining the Showtime family recently, Rachel had been quiet on her future.
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