Van Pelt began his career in sportscasting in 1990 at WTTG-TV, a FOX affiliate in Washington, D.C. From 1995 to 2000, Van Pelt worked for the Golf Channel, where he was a studio host for some of the network's signature programs. He left the channel in 2001 to join ESPN, where he serves as a SportsCenter anchor, and is one of the network's top golf correspondents, covering major tournaments such as the Masters Tournament.[3] After acquiring the cable rights to the tournament, Van Pelt also appeared on ESPN's coverage of The Open Championship. He also is a prominent personality for ESPN Radio, where he was the co-host of Tirico and Van Pelt alongside Mike Tirico before the program was canceled and replaced with Van Pelt's own three-hour program, The Scott Van Pelt Show, in 2009. The show was renamed SVP & Russillo in October 2012 with Van Pelt working alongside Ryen Russillo. He is a studio presenter for the ESPN Network's Friday night College Football on ESPN.
In 2012, Van Pelt made the decision to stay with ESPN.[8] In May 2015, the network announced Van Pelt would leave the radio show SVP & Russillo to become a solo anchor for a midnight edition of SportsCenter, which began in late summer 2015. The midnight show covers sports events from the day, but includes additional commentary from Van Pelt and some popular elements from the radio show.[9]
Personal life
Van Pelt's grandfather, Lorenzo, immigrated to the U.S. from Italy and lived in Brooklyn.[10]