Rich Eisen and Suzy Shuster's Relationship: All About the Sportscasters' Decades-Long Romance (That Started at ESPN!)

01/02/2025 12:58 PM

Rich Eisen and Suzy Shuster met while working at ESPN in the '90s

Rich Eisen and Suzy Shuster have been married for over 20 years.

After meeting while working together on ESPN in 1997, the sportscasters went on to get married six years later in 2003. "We were friends first," Eisen told PEOPLE in 2018. "And then it just clicked."

"I was one of three women working close to him. So there weren't a lot of options," Shuster added, jokingly. The couple have since welcomed three children, and have taken three decades of sports journalism experience into building The Rich Eisen Show and Shuster's podcast, What the Football.

"Is it hard to work with a spouse? Yes," Shuster said. "But you have to work with somebody, and I know 100% that Rich is on my side and we work in each other's best interest. We have the same agenda."

Eisen concluded, "Our life together is really, really good. It's a dream come true. We do what we love, and we get to do it together. What can get better than that?"

So how did the couple go from meeting at ESPN to building a sports media empire together? Here's everything to know about Rich Eisen and Suzy Shuster's relationship.

They both began their careers in the 1990s

Eisen and Shuster both began their sports journalism careers in the '90s.

After working as a staff writer at the Staten Island Advance and Chicago Tribune in the early '90s, Eisen pivoted into sports broadcasting and eventually joined ESPN in 1996. He was one of the network's main anchors on their program SportsCenter, before leaving to join the NFL Network in 2003.

Meanwhile, Shuster similarly found her start in sports broadcasting at ESPN in 1997 where she worked as an associate producer for a year. She left the network in 1998 to work as a segment producer on HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, before working as a reporter for FanDuel Sports Network from 2000 to 2002.

While Eisen's career at the NFL Network eventually evolved into the making of his own show in 2014, Shuster had a slew of reporter stints, including roles at ABC Sports and the Huffington Post, before joining her husband at The Rich Eisen Show as a fill-in host and launching her own podcast, What the Football, in 2023.

Eisen and Shuster met while working at ESPN

Shuster and Eisen met during their time together at ESPN.

In a 2004 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Shuster recalled meeting her husband on Feb. 3, 1997, which was also her first day on the job.

"It was my first day at ESPN," Shuster told the outlet. "He came by my desk to say hello. Of course, I knew who he was. He was so sweet, so nice." The couple didn't immediately begin dating however, with Shuster recalling, "We were best friends for three years."

"It took me that long to smarten up and quit dating jerks," she added. Things in their relationship eventually took a turn in February 2000 when Eisen officially asked Shuster out on a date.

"He asked me to accompany him to the ESPY Awards in Las Vegas, not as a friend but as his date," Shuster told the Los Angeles Times.

They married in 2003

Two years after their Las Vegas date at the ESPY Awards, Eisen and Shuster got engaged on Valentine's Day and married a year later on June 7, 2003, at the Boat House in Central Park.

On the couple's 21st anniversary in 2024, Eisen celebrated the landmark occasion with a touching tribute.

"Happy 21st anniversary to my ❤️and soul," he wrote on Instagram along with a carousel of photos of him and Shuster over the years. "At least one of us hasn't aged a day. Love you, Suze."

Eisen and Shuster share three children

Eisen and Shuster have welcomed three children: sons Xander and Cooper and daughter Taylor.

On The Rich Eisen Show, the sportscaster has a plaque that reads "Best Dad Ever" which he revealed in a 2022 episode was gifted to him by his kids on Father's Day. His elder son, Xander, also made an appearance in that same episode and schooled his dad on the mechanics of TikTok.

Along with showcasing an interest in media, the couple's children have also gotten involved in sports. Eisen shared in a 2022 episode of his show that Taylor had joined a youth league basketball team and competed against NBA legend Kevin Garnett's daughter in her first-ever game.

The podcast host also regularly celebrates his children's milestones on social media. In 2024, he posted a sweet tribute to his son Cooper after he turned 13 and had his Bar Mitzvah.

"My baby boy is now a Bar Mitzvah boy," Eisen wrote on Instagram alongside photos of Cooper as a baby and a teenager. "13 years go by fast. I'm so proud of you, Cooper Eisen."

The sports broadcaster also posted a touching tribute for his daughter on National Daughter's Day in 2021, writing on Instagram, "Thank the lord I'm a #GirlDad. Happy national daughters day to my wondrous Taylor."

He credits her with helping him create The Rich Eisen Show

When Eisen received news in 2019 that DirecTV's Audience Network was getting shut down, he and Shuster went the extra mile to make sure that The Rich Eisen Show would still continue.

"They offered to transfer the radio affiliates to me," Eisen recalled to PEOPLE in 2023 on the potential next steps the show faced at the time. "But I knew I didn't want it to end this way." Having grown up dreaming of being a late-night talk show host, Eisen then took matters into his own hands and decided to form a production company instead.

The Rich Eisen Show then moved to Roku and YouTube with the sportscaster sharing that he felt "very, very lucky" to have ownership of it all.

The sportscaster also credited his wife with much of his success, and described her as "the greatest life partner anyone could have."

Shuster also praised her husband's talent and described what makes The Rich Eisen Show so successful, telling PEOPLE, "If you're on TV, you're either talented or lucky or both, and I think what makes Rich special is he's exactly who you see on camera, off camera."

She added that the "special sauce" to her husband's show is "just enough antagonism" and "that Rich doesn't take himself too seriously."

Eisen and Shuster have launched several podcasts together

Along with working on The Rich Eisen Show, the couple also briefly launched a joint podcast together in 2018 called Eyes on Sports with Suzy Shuster and Rich Eisen.

"We talk about it all," Eisen said, describing the podcast to PEOPLE in 2018. "Our kids, sports, news of the day, pop culture. We have special guests; sometimes they're athletes, other times, they're Hollywood celebrities."

After the podcast ended, Shuster went on to launch her own podcast, What the Football, in 2023 with Amy Trask, former owner of the Oakland Raiders.

Although Eisen may not be a host on Shuster's podcast, What the Football publishes the video format of its episode on The Rich Eisen Show's YouTube channel.