ESPN Signs Dan Wetzel as a Senior Writer

ESPN has added to its roster of journalists covering sports for the worldwide leader as Dan Wetzel has joined as a senior writer. A New York Times bestselling author, Wetzel leaves his post at Yahoo Sports, where he had been a national columnist since 2003, to join ESPN.

According to a release, Wetzel’s focus will be on strengthening ESPN’s Investigative and Enterprise Journalism Unit. He will be focusing on investigative reporting, news analysis, and feature storytelling and is planning to work on multiple platforms for the network. These will include the podcast and television/streaming wings of ESPN beginning on March 17.

“I want to thank Jimmy Pitaro, Burke Magnus, Chris Buckle, Mike Foss, and Mike Drago for believing in me and providing this opportunity to join an incredibly talented staff,” said Wetzel in a post on X Thursday.

Joining Wetzel as a recent addition to the ESPN Investigative and Enterprise Journalism Unit is Juanita Ceballos. She joins ESPN as a producer whose work has earned Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards, alongside being named a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Ceballos is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and her work has appeared on FRONTLINE, VICE News, HBO, Showtime, Telemundo, Al Jazeera, Univision, NBC News, TIME, and The New York Times.

“We are thrilled with these two impressive additions,” said Chris Buckle, the ESPN vice president who oversees the unit. “With the recent re-signings of senior writers Mark Fainaru-Wada and Michael Fletcher, ESPN is further cemented as the place to find best-in-class investigative and enterprise journalism.”

Wetzel has been honored many times by the Associated Press Sports Editors, with his work regularly appearing in the annual The Year’s Best Sports Writing publication. Previously, Wetzel covered all major professional sports as well as college sports, the Olympics, and the World Cup.

In reflecting on his time with Yahoo Sports, Wetzel was honored to be a part of the growth at the publication.

“Two decades ago, a handful of us—literally—sat in a small conference room in Sunnyvale, determined to turn Yahoo Sports, a bit part of what was then mostly just a search engine, into a powerful and innovative media brand,” tweeted Wetzel. “The most rewarding part, however, was the many, many (too many to name) coworkers through the years who became like family. I’m grateful for the content, the culture, and the loyalty we built together.”

Wetzel co-wrote, as a screenwriter, Life of a King, a 2014 movie starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Dennis Haysbert. He has authored more than two dozen sports-related books and is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame.

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