As Super Bowl LX takes center stage, one of the most prominent faces in NBC’s coverage is Maria Taylor. A key member of the network’s broadcast team, Taylor will host the Super Bowl pregame show on NBC and Peacock before also taking on one of the night’s most historic responsibilities: presenting the Lombardi Trophy to the champions.
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Her presence on football’s biggest stage is the latest milestone in a career defined by versatility, resilience, and steady ascension to the top of sports media.
Maria Taylor is one of the most recognizable and respected broadcasters in sports today. She currently serves as the host of Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports, and leads NBC’s NBA coverage on NBA Showtime and Basketball Night in America.
In January 2026, Taylor completed her fifth season as host of Football Night in America, which averaged 8.8 million viewers during the 2025 season, its largest audience ever and a 14% increase from the previous year.
She will anchor NBC’s Super Bowl LX pregame coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET on February 8, 2026, and will later serve as a late-night host for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, marking her fourth Olympic assignment.
Taylor also made history as the first female full-time host of Football Night in America. Beginning this spring, she will expand her role further as NBC Sports’ lead WNBA studio host.
Over the years, she has worked across nearly every major sporting event, including the Tokyo, Beijing, and Paris Olympics, Big Ten College Countdown, Roland-Garros, and NBC’s primetime college football coverage. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, she hosted or co-hosted the NFL Draft, NBA Finals, Tokyo Olympics, Super Bowl, and Beijing Winter Olympics, an unprecedented stretch in sports broadcasting.
In addition to her on-air work, Taylor is currently executive producing an eight-part documentary series on the history of Black quarterbacks in the NFL.
Taylor’s impact has been widely recognized across the industry. She won a Sports Emmy as part of NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which earned Outstanding Live Special – Championship Event.
She was named one of Adweek’s “Most Powerful Women in Sports” in 2021 and was included in TIME’s TIME100 Next list in 2022, highlighting emerging leaders shaping the future. That same year, she was featured in Giorgio Armani’s “Crossroads” campaign, celebrating women who challenge social conventions.
A graduate of the University of Georgia, Taylor returned to her alma mater in May 2021 to deliver the commencement address on the 60th anniversary of the school’s integration.
Despite her growing success, Taylor’s career has not been without challenges.
In 2020, while both she and Rachel Nichols were working at ESPN, leaked audio surfaced in which Nichols suggested that Taylor had been given hosting duties on the NBA Finals because of her race. In the recording, Nichols expressed frustration that ESPN was trying to “make up” for past diversity shortcomings at her expense.
The comments sparked widespread backlash and ignited a national conversation about race, workplace equity, and representation in sports media. Many viewed the remarks as dismissive of Taylor’s credentials and professionalism.
Although Taylor was not responsible for the recording becoming public, she found herself at the center of the controversy. The situation strained relationships within ESPN and exposed deeper tensions behind the scenes.
By 2021, contract negotiations between Taylor and ESPN had broken down. Amid the fallout from the Nichols controversy and disagreements over her role and compensation, Taylor chose to leave the network and signed with NBC Sports.
The move proved pivotal, allowing her to reset her career in a more supportive environment and quickly become one of NBC’s flagship personalities.
Super Bowl LX represents another landmark achievement for Taylor.
In addition to hosting the pregame show, she will present the Lombardi Trophy after the game, becoming the first woman since 1992 to handle that responsibility on a Super Bowl broadcast.
NBC will have Maria Taylor doing the Super Bowl trophy presentation after tonight’s game, the first woman since 1992 to handle that responsibility. pic.twitter.com/IQ7UopQq9h
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 8, 2026
The moment reflects not only her personal growth but also her broader impact on sports broadcasting. From navigating controversy to redefining what leadership looks like in the industry, Taylor has consistently turned challenges into opportunities.
Today, Maria Taylor stands as one of the most influential figures in modern sports media. She leads NBC’s most important studio shows, anchors major global events, and continues to expand her role as a producer and storyteller.
