Linda Cohn spent 34 years as the voice of ESPN’s SportsCenter, and even after leaving the anchor desk in June 2026, she’s still making headlines. People are searching her name again this month because of blunt comments she made about WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson. Here’s the full, fact-checked story of who she is, how she got here, and what’s actually happening with her right now.
Background: Who Is Linda Cohn?
Linda Cohn is an American sportscaster best known for hosting SportsCenter on ESPN. She joined the network in 1992 and stayed for 34 straight years, anchoring more editions of the show than anyone else in its history — over 5,500 broadcasts by the time she retired. That kind of run made her one of the most recognizable faces in American sports television, and it’s a big reason her name still pulls search traffic years after most viewers first saw her on screen.
People look her up for a mix of reasons. Longtime ESPN fans want to know what happened after her retirement. Younger sports fans are discovering her because of her recent, very direct opinions on women’s basketball. And plenty of people are simply curious about her age, her family, and how much money she made across three decades in front of the camera.
Key Career Date: Cohn’s final SportsCenter episodes aired the week of June 26, 2026, closing out a run that began on July 11, 1992.
Latest Update
As of September 15, 2026, here is what’s currently known. Cohn officially left ESPN on June 30, 2026, after the network and her team could not agree on a new role once her contract expired. She spent her final week being honored at ESPN’s Bristol, Connecticut headquarters and made a farewell appearance at the NHL Draft alongside longtime co-host John Buccigross.
Since retiring, Cohn hasn’t gone quiet. She’s active on her own YouTube show and social media, where she’s shared sharp opinions on the WNBA. In early September 2026, she drew heavy criticism online after suggesting that star player A’ja Wilson’s absence from a USA Basketball roster was tied to insecurity about the attention Caitlin Clark receives — a claim Wilson’s supporters pushed back on hard, noting Wilson missed the event due to injury. Cohn later addressed the backlash on her show, standing by her broader point while clarifying her comments. Around the same time, she also exchanged public criticism with former ESPN colleague Cindy Brunson over her WNBA takes, saying that three decades of network restrictions had kept her honest opinions under wraps until now.
Why she’s trending: It isn’t a retirement story anymore — it’s Cohn’s newly outspoken commentary on the WNBA, something she says she couldn’t do freely while employed by ESPN.
No new reports of a health issue, legal matter, or major life event have been confirmed as of this date. Any claim beyond her retirement and her WNBA commentary should be treated as unverified until a credible outlet reports it directly.
Full Profile
Family and Early Life
Cohn was born and raised on Long Island, New York, in a Jewish household. She grew up watching sports on TV with her father, which she has credited as the spark for her career. At 15, she started playing ice hockey in a boys’ league, and she later made her high school’s boys’ hockey team as a senior — an unusual path for a girl in that era, and one she has spoken about often. Some entertainment sites list the names of her siblings and parents, but these details are not confirmed by primary sources like Wikipedia or major news outlets, so they should be treated as unconfirmed.
Career Path
Cohn’s broadcasting career started in 1981 as a radio sports anchor at WALK-AM/FM in Patchogue, New York. She worked at several New York radio stations through the 1980s, including a stint at WFAN, before being hired by ABC Radio in 1987 — making her the first full-time female sports anchor on a national U.S. radio network. From there she moved to television, working at KIRO-TV in Seattle starting in 1989. ESPN hired her in 1992, and she anchored her first SportsCenter that July alongside Chris Myers. Over the next three decades she hosted thousands of episodes, called WNBA play-by-play, contributed to NHL coverage as a former college hockey goalie herself, and appeared in ESPN’s well-known “This Is SportsCenter” ad campaigns. She retired from the network on June 30, 2026.
Age
Linda Cohn was born on November 10, 1959, which makes her 66 years old as of this article’s publication.
Religion
Cohn grew up in a Jewish family on Long Island and has been recognized by Jewish sports organizations, including induction-related honors from the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Spouse/Partner
Cohn was married to Stew Kaufman, whom she met in college, from 1985 until their divorce in 2008. After the divorce, multiple entertainment sites reported she was in a relationship with hockey goaltending coach Matt Voity for roughly a decade, with some reports saying that relationship ended around 2019. Cohn has never confirmed details of this relationship publicly in detail, and her current relationship status is unconfirmed — there is no reliable, recent reporting on whether she is currently in a relationship.
Net Worth
Multiple financial estimate sites put Cohn’s net worth in the range of $10 million to $15 million as of 2026, with $12 million being the figure most commonly cited, alongside a reported ESPN salary of roughly $3 million a year in her later contract years. These are third-party estimates, not numbers confirmed by Cohn or ESPN, so treat the exact figure as an approximation rather than a fact.
Parents
Cohn has spoken publicly about both of her parents being sports fans who shaped her love of the game — her mother reportedly found her a hockey league to play in as a teenager, and her father watched games with her as a child. Their full names are not documented in reliable sources, so they remain unconfirmed.
Height
Cohn’s height is reported differently across various fan and biography sites, ranging from about 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 8 inches. Because no official or primary source confirms an exact figure, her height should be treated as unconfirmed.
Education
Cohn attended Newfield High School in Selden, New York, before going to the State University of New York at Oswego, where she played goalie for the women’s ice hockey team and earned a bachelor’s degree in arts and communications in 1981. She was later inducted into the Oswego State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Hometown / State of Origin
Linda Cohn is from Long Island, New York, in the United States.
Official Social Media
You can follow Linda Cohn’s verified account here: @LindaCohn on X (Twitter).
A note on sourcing: Some celebrity-bio sites publish net worth figures, family details, and relationship claims that contradict each other or cannot be traced to a primary source. Where sources disagreed or offered no verification, this article flags the claim as unconfirmed instead of picking a number and presenting it as fact.
Quick Facts Table
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Linda Cohn |
| Date of Birth | November 10, 1959 |
| Age | 66 (as of 2026) |
| Hometown | Long Island, New York, USA |
| Occupation | Sportscaster (retired ESPN anchor) |
| Years at ESPN | 1992–2026 (34 years) |
| Education | SUNY Oswego, B.A. Arts and Communications, 1981 |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Spouse | Stew Kaufman (m. 1985–div. 2008) |
| Children | 2 (a son and a daughter) |
| Net Worth (est.) | $10–15 million (commonly cited: $12 million) |
| Height | Unconfirmed (reports vary, roughly 5’5″–5’8″) |
Reader Questions (FAQ)
Is Linda Cohn still on ESPN?
No. Cohn officially retired from ESPN on June 30, 2026, after 34 years at the network. She made her final SportsCenter appearances as a guest during the evening editions the week before her departure.
How old is Linda Cohn?
Linda Cohn was born on November 10, 1959, which makes her 66 years old as of September 2026.
Why is Linda Cohn trending right now?
She’s trending because of pointed comments she made about WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson in early September 2026, which sparked backlash online and a public back-and-forth with a former ESPN colleague. It is not related to her retirement, which happened months earlier.
What is Linda Cohn’s net worth?
Estimates place her net worth between $10 million and $15 million, with $12 million being the figure cited most often across financial estimate sites. These are unofficial estimates rather than confirmed figures.
Is Linda Cohn married?
No. She was married to Stew Kaufman from 1985 to 2008. She reportedly dated hockey coach Matt Voity for several years afterward, but her current relationship status has not been publicly confirmed.
Does Linda Cohn have kids?
Yes, she has two children, a son and a daughter, from her marriage to Stew Kaufman. Both are adults and generally keep a low public profile.
What did Linda Cohn do after leaving ESPN?
She has continued working independently, running her own YouTube show and staying active on social media, where she now shares opinions on sports — including the WNBA — that she says she couldn’t express as freely while under contract with ESPN.
Bottom line: Linda Cohn’s ESPN chapter is closed, but her media presence isn’t. She’s simply operating without a network filter now.
Wrap-Up
Linda Cohn’s story is really about staying power. She broke into a business that had almost no women in it, worked her way from local radio in New York to a national ESPN desk, and stayed there long enough to become the answer to a trivia question: who has hosted more SportsCenter episodes than anyone else? Her retirement in June 2026 closed out a run most broadcasters never get close to.
What’s interesting is that retirement hasn’t made her less visible — arguably the opposite. Freed from ESPN’s editorial guardrails, she’s been more willing to share strong opinions, and that’s exactly what’s fueling searches for her name this month. Whether that shift builds a second act as an independent commentator or fades once the current WNBA news cycle moves on is something only time will answer.
For now, the facts are simple: she’s 66, she’s retired from ESPN after 34 years, her personal life outside of her past marriage remains mostly private, and her financial success reflects a broadcasting career that spanned more than four decades. Anything beyond that — her exact net worth, her current relationship status, her precise height — should be read as an estimate, not a certainty, until she or a primary source says otherwise.
Thomas Andrew is the founder of Odubio.com, a digital platform sharing inspiring biographies, news, and stories about global icons and achievers.