Jason Kelce to host new ESPN late-night show filmed in Philly
The former Eagles star will try his hand at late night with an NFL-themed show debuting just in time for the playoffs.
Heeerrreee’s Kelce!
Jason Kelce, the retired Eagles center turned multimedia star, is taking his talents to late-night television as the host of They Call It Late Night, a new weekly ESPN show filmed in Philadelphia with a limited run leading up to the Super Bowl.
Emphasis on late. The show will debut at 1 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, so make sure you set your DVR.
“I loved late-night shows, I’ve always loved them,” Kelce said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday night. “I remember sleepovers watching Conan O’Brien with my friends.”
Kelce didn’t say much about the format of the show or his first guests, but it will be NFL-focused and air a total of five episodes from Week 18 through the playoffs.
“We’re going to have a bunch of guys up there, legends of the game, friends that I played the game with, coaches, celebrities, while also incorporating NFL films,” Kelce said.
One thing is clear — not many people are going to be tuning in at 1 a.m. to watch Kelce or anyone else, especially as cord-cutting continues. Instead, the show appears designed to live online, with clips pushed on social media by ESPN’s mighty digital footprint., and available digitally on both ESPN+ and Kelce’s YouTube channel.
They Call It Late Night will be filmed Friday nights at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, with music provided by brass-heavy Philly party band Snacktime. Tickets will be available through 1iota, but specific information on how to attend a taping hasn’t been released.
The name of Kelce’s show is a nod to They Call it Pro Football, the first full-length documentary produced by NFL films back in 1967, which featured the immortal words of famed Philadelphia broadcaster Jon Facenda: “It starts with a whistle and ends with a gun.”
It’s just the latest gig for Kelce, who is in his first season as an NFL studio analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show, Monday Night Countdown. He also cohosts New Heights, the $100 million podcast he began back in 2022 with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. There’s also weekly appearances on 94.1 WIP and commercial spots for Wawa, Buffalo Wild Wings, NFL Sunday Ticket, Garage Beer, and more.
Oh, and he’s also back with another Philly Special Christmas album alongside Eagles offensive linemen Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson.
Kelce isn’t afraid to stay busy, but being in the spotlight has led to some issues. In May, Kelce and his wife, Kylie, were heckled by a fan in Margate after the duo declined a request for a photo. And earlier this month, Kelce admitted letting his anger get the better of him after a Penn State fan used a homophobic slur in reference to Travis. Kelce reacted by slamming the fan’s phone to the ground and repeating the slur back, which he later apologized for.
“It’s a little much at times,” Kelce admitted to The Inquirer during an interview before the start of the NFL season.
While the late-night stint might only be five weeks, Kelce signed a multiyear deal with ESPN earlier this year that gives him a lot of flexibility to do different things. In addition to his role as a studio analyst, Kelce spent some time in the booth calling the Eagles’ Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons alongside Monday Night Football announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
“I think I got better as it went,” Kelce said following the game. “I think everybody saw Tom Brady’s first-week performance and had a lot of criticism for it … I got to see firsthand why that’s so hard, for sure.”