Troy Aikman will take on a new role as ESPN’s main analyst on Monday Night Football this upcoming season, but that wasn’t always the plan.
In a recent appearance on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, Aikman explained he began working with Fox on a new deal, but wanted an opt-out added to his contract after receiving an initial offer from the network. When Fox showed an unwillingness to negotiate further, the former Cowboys quarterback opted to go in a different direction.
“Well, the reason I wanted the opt-out was because we couldn’t agree on what fair market value was,” Aikman said on the podcast. “And so, (Fox) made a proposal. I thought it was a good start, but there was no negotiation. That was their position and that was where they were going to land. I then said ‘O.K., I’ll take it’ but after the first year and one year only, I have the option to opt-out of the contract...
“That’s how we got to where we are, and that’s why I’m no longer at Fox.”
Aikman had previously said on the SI Media Podcast that he didn’t even speak with his boss at Fox until he received a phone call, congratulating him on the new ESPN gig.
“I guess what’s perplexing to me is that I had no conversation with my boss until he called me to congratulate me on my contract with ESPN. So I don’t know, I guess it’s disappointing,” Aikman told Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina in March. “I would’ve thought that there would’ve been a conversation at least. And then when I did talk with him, when he called to congratulate me, I just asked for an explanation on some things that I didn’t quite understand and he opted not to do that as well.”
Shortly after Aikman made the leap to ESPN, his longtime play-by-play partner Joe Buck joined him on the Monday Night Football crew. The two will usher in a new era of Monday night coverage for the network when the 2022 season kicks off in less than two weeks.
