This NFL offseason has seen a number of shake-ups in the world of NFL broadcasting, including Troy Aikman joining ESPN’s Monday Night Football crew and Kirk Herbstreit joining Amazon for Thursday Night Football next season. There are also ongoing conversations about what it all means for people like Sean Payton, Greg Olsen, Drew Brees, and others.
Friday saw another domino fall that will greatly impact NFL (and MLB) coverage next season. According to the NY Post’s Andrew Marchand, Joe Buck is expected to join ESPN alongside Aikman for their coverage of Monday Night Football next season.
NEWS: Joe Buck is expected to leave Fox Sports to join ESPN as the new voice of Monday Night Football, The Post has learned. https://t.co/M6Rkr6xyRg
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 11, 2022
The news that Buck and Aikman will be reunited (even though they weren’t apart for that long) has the NFL world talking.
Good for Joe Buck. He’s the best announcer in the game.
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) March 11, 2022
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman going to MNF is HUGE! how Fox Sports let them leave is wiiiiiillllllddddddd
— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) March 11, 2022
Okay nevermind Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will just move to another network instead. https://t.co/V9o6EpxJ9I
— Field Gulls (@FieldGulls) March 11, 2022
ESPN shelling out $$$$ for the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman MNF duo. pic.twitter.com/fWIUiidOdH
— Jason Romano (@JasonRomano) March 11, 2022
Buck’s deal with ESPN is expected to be for five years in the range of $60-75 million. Aside from football, Buck will reportedly be involved with producing some ESPN+ content for the company as well.
This news has an impact beyond just the NFL as Buck has been the voice of the World Series on Fox since 1996. Given this new deal, it is all but certain that he won’t be involved with that going forward.
Wow. Not hearing Joe Buck’s voice on FOX for the World Series and big football games just won’t feel right https://t.co/L4EQVFOpmt
— Tommy Smokes (@TomScibelli) March 11, 2022
Not having Joe Buck on the World Series absolutely sucks.
— Jack Fritz (@JackFritzWIP) March 11, 2022
Joe Buck has called every World Series in a year that started with a 2 so far https://t.co/an4dmRSisV
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) March 11, 2022
Going to miss Joe Buck calling the World Series. Hope ESPN has a place for him calling MLB (if he wants it).
Monday Night Football just got a whole lot better. https://t.co/QeKUPsFgUs
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) March 11, 2022
This move has a ton of ramifications for other networks looking to solidify their top broadcasting groups going forward. NBC’s Al Michaels was the other name rumored to join Aikman at ESPN, so this likely means that he will head to Amazon.
This is a huge get for ESPN and a devastating loss for Fox, as they will now need to replace their top NFL booth next season as well as their lead voice for the World Series going forward.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.