The special edition of "SportsCenter" was made possible by Eisen's return to ESPN in 2025. As a part of the ESPN app's move into the direct-to-consumer model, he will host "The Rich Eisen Show" beginning Sept. 2 on Disney and ESPN platforms.

This article was originally published on thebiglead.com as Rich Eisen's shocking ESPN ratings test the limits of 'SportsCenter' nostalgia. Rich Eisen returned to anchor SportsCenter on Monday, with more fanfare (and a bit less hair) than his last turn hosting ESPN's signature highlights show 22 years ago.

Rich Eisen is back on ESPN, and I couldn’t be more excited! When I found out that the legendary SportsCenter personality who had spent the past 22 years away from the desk was coming back to host his first episode since May 2003,