Nate Silver to Leave New York Times for ESPN

By Gilbert Falso :: 9:24 PM

Statistician Nate Silver, who attained something of a cult-like following after his stunningly accurate predictions of the 2008 and 2012 presidential election outcomes will reportedly be leaving his post at the New York Times for sports network ESPN.

The deal, which has not been announced widely yet, will apparently be inked on Monday, according to sources at ESPN who spoke to the Times under conditions of anonymity.

In his new position at ESPN, Silver will continue his regular statistics work and writing, but will also be a regular fixture on a new late-night talk show “Olberman,” hosted by Keith Olberman. The new show is set to launch some time in August. In addition to the ESPN airtime, Silver will also be expected to appear on ESPN’s sister company, ABC News. Both networks are owned by the Walt Disney Company.

Prior to his political work at the Times, Silver worked in baseball, devising statistics models that projected how certain players would perform in future games and seasons.

Silver’s contract with the Times expires in late August, and the timing lines up with when ESPN expects to begin airing Olberman’s new show.

Immediately following Silver’s success in so accurately predicting the outcome of the 2012 elections, many news agencies tried to woo him away from the Times, including NBC News, MSNBC, and CBS.