It\u2019s been several months since\u00a0Around the Horn\u00a0was canceled at ESPN. And while Tony Reali still doesn\u2019t have any answers as to why, he does have some thoughts on what his former show brought to the network.<\/p>\n
Reali has moved on to his own projects since leaving ESPN, including launching his own digital network<\/a>. Meanwhile, ESPN has replaced ATH with episodes of\u00a0SportsCenter, yet to commit to a permanent replacement.<\/p>\n In an appearance on the\u00a0Front Office Sports Today<\/a>\u00a0show, Reali reflected on the cancelation and what\u00a0Around the Horn\u00a0gave ESPN that other shows did not.<\/p>\n Why was Around the Horn canceled?<\/p>\n Tony Reali says he never really got an answer \u2014 and explains what it\u2019s like when a network moves on and creative differences take center stage. pic.twitter.com\/tVLeCV4U32<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Front Office Sports Today (@FOS_Today) December 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I have an answer, I don\u2019t know if I need an answer. A creative difference in the network decision making, that\u2019s understandable to me. I can live with that,\u201d Reali said.<\/p>\n In truth, ESPN never really gave any explanation to anyone for why\u00a0Around the Horn\u00a0was ultimately canceled after a sustained run of success over two decades in the 5 p.m. ET timeslot. However, ESPN has noted that episodes of SportsCenter\u00a0are doing just as well, if not better than ATH was doing. That\u2019s part of the reason why ESPN has delayed in naming a permanent replacement<\/a> according to executive Burke Magnus.<\/p>\n Around the Horn\u00a0was a reliable lead-in for\u00a0Pardon the Interruption\u00a0throughout its run. But if there was one thing that drew outsized reaction, especially from culture warriors, it was the diverse cast and ability to tackle topics that fell in the intersection of sports, culture, and politics. Because of that, it became a bit of a lighting rod for insipid wokeness debates<\/a>.<\/p>\n But according to Tony Reali, he saw that diversity as a strength of\u00a0Around the Horn\u00a0and that it offered something that other shows on ESPN did not, namely debate shows<\/a> and constant Dallas Cowboys talk<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done 50,000 topics. I don\u2019t believe the show was too anything, honestly. Maybe we had a lot of people, I believe that was a strength of the show. Maybe we did a lot of different stories other shows on the network weren\u2019t doing. I believe that would be a strength of our show and of the network. That we had a host that was very heartfelt and too feely and too serious for some topics, maybe that is a good thing to have when other shows can put on a good cop, bad cop hat, or the Cowboy hat and laugh at the Cowboys for losing. I think the network is best having many different things. So I operated in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I never got one note other than keep on doing what you\u2019re doing and I didn\u2019t get many of those either. I just felt very comfortable that the show was in a safe place. We didn\u2019t have controversies,\u201d the former ESPN host added.<\/p>\n ESPN is a year away from their planned timeline for an\u00a0Around the Horn\u00a0replacement this fall. And whether it\u2019s Scott Van Pelt<\/a> or anyone else, odds are it will look more like what we see on ESPN the rest of the day than\u00a0Around the Horn\u00a0did.<\/p>\n \t\n