Consider it a coup for ESPN.
For years, the network struggled to find the right combination and chemistry in its “Monday Night Football” booth, especially after Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden departed.
On Monday, after weeks of speculation, ESPN made it official: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have been hired by the network and will be the new voices of “Monday Night Football,” ending the pair’s two-decade run at Fox.
“The opportunity to be a voice on Monday Night Football, adding to its legacy and being a part of the future of the NFL on ESPN, has me motivated and reflective,” Aikman said Wednesday in a release.
Buck and Aikman, the three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, are close friends and have been broadcast partners since 2002. Together, they have called six Super Bowls.
Aikman’s contract with Fox expired recently, and he was rumored to be joining Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” team. In late February, however, the New York Post reported that he would be joining ESPN to serve as MNF’s color commentator.
On Friday, the Post reported that Fox allowed Buck to negotiate with ESPN. A deal came together shortly thereafter, and the duo remained intact. Buck’s deal is apparently five years and worth $60 million-$75 million, per the Post, while Aikman’s is five years and $90 million.
Buck, in a video posted to social media Monday, said he is “beyond excited” to join ESPN.
“It’s going to be an absolute blast,” Buck, 52, said.
Buck, who had been at Fox since 1994, recalled spending Monday nights as a kid in the CBS Radio MNF broadcast booth, where his father Jack Buck was behind the microphone.
ESPN’s number of games in 2022 will increase from 20 to 22. Buck and Aikman are expected to call 18 of those.
“When you have the opportunity to bring in the iconic, longest-running NFL broadcasting duo, you take it, especially at a time when we are on the cusp of a new era in our expanding relationship with the NFL,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “The NFL continues to ascend, and we now have more games than ever before, providing additional opportunities for Joe, Troy and our deep roster of commentators.”
When Tirico left for NBC after the 2015 season, Sean McDonough partnered with Gruden for two seasons. Gruden was hired by the then-Oakland Raiders after 2017. That ushered in the ill-fated three-man booth of Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten and Booger McFarland, which was pared down to just Tessitore and a no-longer-roving McFarland in 2019.
The trio of Steve Levy, Louis Riddick, and Brian Griese lasted two years.
Lisa Salters has been the broadcast’s sideline reporter since 2021 and is expected to remain in that role.
Read more at usatoday.com
