Sports Anchor Eric Perkins Announces He's Leaving ... - Pioneer Press

Longtime KARE-11 sports director and anchor Eric Perkins announced Wednesday that he’s leaving the NBC affiliate that’s been his home for 25 years. His final day on the job will be Aug. 8, which is also the final day of the Tokyo Olympics.

In a video posted to social media, Perkins explained his decision, calling the job a phenomenal opportunity: “I’m glad to have had it. But, I’ve had it and now I want something else. It’s really that simple, there’s no scandal here, there’s no drama involved in this exit. I just need a change. I want to grow and that hasn’t been happening here for me lately. I want to extend myself again, I want to push myself again.”

Perkins also said working from home for more than a year made him realize how much of his family’s lives he has missed working from 2 to 11:30 p.m. every weeknight and traveling on weekends during football season. “It’s a lot,” he said. “It’s a lot on them, it’s a lot on me and I don’t want to continue with a schedule like that.”

As for his future? “I honestly don’t know,” Perkins said. “I know that’s risky, but I’ve never been really one to stick to convention.”

A Los Angeles native, Perkins started working at KARE in 1996 as a sports reporter. His father, Jack Perkins, was an NBC Nightly News correspondent and onetime host of A&E’s “Biography.”

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