Taylor McGregor, the sideline reporter who became a familiar presence on Chicago Cubs broadcasts since Marquee Sports Network launched in 2020, is leaving the network to join ESPN full time. Thursday’s Cubs regular-season home finale marked her final day of game coverage for Marquee. The network will look to replace her for next season, while the rest of its crew will return.
McGregor, 33, a Colorado native, has served as a college football sideline reporter for ESPN since September 2019. In recent years, she took on additional game-day roles at the network. At ESPN, her position will expand to include the NBA this season, as well as potentially college basketball and more opportunities to host “SportsCenter.”
“Ultimately, it was an opportunity to grow in my career at ESPN and I had to make a tough decision,” McGregor told the Tribune. “I love everyday baseball, but it’s every day and I’ve been doing it for nine years and I felt ready to have a little bit more time in my personal life.”
Her departure leaves a hole in the Marquee broadcast team, which is led by play-by-play announcer Jon “Boog” Sciambi and color commentator Jim Deshaies. Sciambi praised McGregor’s growth over the last seven seasons and the special energy she brings to the broadcasts.
“She’s unique, she’s fun and super likable, and that immediately — whether it’s on the air, off the air — connects her to the audience,” Sciambi told the Tribune. “When you’re doing it every day, you are trying to find stuff and she really learned to figure out what’s interesting. Her laugh is incredible. We joke that we don’t know half the time when we hear her laughing whether her mic’s open or not because you can hear it from so far away.”
“We’re going to miss her. We’re going to miss her energy, her presence. She’s a kind, loving person, and there’s a vibe the three of us established a couple years in, so it’s not just the connection JD and I have,” Sciambi said.
A University of Arkansas alumna, McGregor previously held roles at AT&T SportsNet in Denver, THV-11 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and KCWY-TV in Wyoming.
“I’ll miss being on the beat and the people you see every single day, and Wrigley’s so special,” McGregor said. “We are so privileged. We go to stadiums around the country, and what we have at Wrigley is really special. All the workers who greet you every single day and the players and coaches who have been so wonderful to me. My producer, director, everybody in the truck who I get to see — I really do love those relationships. I will certainly miss that.”
“I’ve been very clear with my bosses from Day 1, I do want to be a mom, I do want to get married, and it’s just hard to do that with this type of schedule,” she said.
Colin Faulkner, the chief commercial officer of the Cubs who added oversight of Marquee this year after the network ousted general manager Diane Penney amid several cuts in December, called McGregor’s departure “very bittersweet.”
“She started when she was very green and young, and we’ve kind of watched her grow up before our eyes,” Faulkner told the Tribune. “It’s like a family, and we’ve got a really good group and everybody cares a lot about each other. But everyone obviously knows that this is the next step for her, and it’s very apparent that it’s what she should be doing, even though it’s very, very difficult for her to make that decision.”
In a statement, Faulkner also said: “Anyone who has watched her work, both with us and increasingly on ESPN, can see that she is a rising star in the industry. Taylor’s professionalism, preparation, and ability to connect with players, coaches, and fans have made her an outstanding member of our broadcast team.”
McGregor’s contract with Marquee ends after the season. Her college football duties prevent her from traveling with the Cubs for their final regular-season series against the Boston Red Sox this weekend, and Marquee will yield to national TV networks when postseason play begins next week. Thursday’s game marked her final game coverage for Marquee, though she will remain a part of the network through the postseason.
The Cubs and Marquee plan to fill her position with a new field reporter next season. “I think there’ll be a ton of interest in Taylor’s spot,” Faulkner said. “The plan is to have a new person starting with us to be able to be ready for spring training.”
