Any sports fan who has watched the Super Bowl or World Series over the past twenty-five years has heard announcer Joe Buck’s voice. A member of FOX Sports for over a quarter-century, it has been announced that he will soon leave that organization to join ESPN.
Buck, 52, has called six Super Bowls and every World Series since 1996. ESPN is also expected to hire sportscaster Troy Aikman, who will become the new face of ‘Monday Night Football’ along with Buck.
FOX initially offered Buck a $12 million / year offer, as he had one year remaining on his contract. However, Buck denied it after his long-time partner Aikman signed a record five-year, $92.5 million contract. Buck signed a five-year, $65 million contract, and ESPN is expected to officially announce the contracts today, March 15.
Joe Buck is leaving Fox Sports to become new voice of Monday Night Football at ESPN, per @AndrewMarchand pic.twitter.com/KYluT5Tffl
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) March 11, 2022
After joining FOX Sports in 1994, Buck became the youngest announcer to call the NFL on a full-time basis, at just age 25. He soon became the face of the network, and has been a household name in the sports world since. He even received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2020.
The signing of Buck, Aikman, and the Manning brothers by ESPN is expected to cost the company around $50 million a year. However, that does not seem to be an issue for ESPN chairman James Pitaro, who seems to spend money almost as fast as he prints it.
Buck and Aikman are scheduled to call ESPN’s first Super Bowl in 2027. Meanwhile, FOX is considering hiring replacements for the duo which include Michael Strahan and Kevin Burkhardt, although no hirings on that front have been made as of yet.
What do you think of Joe Buck leaving FOX for ESPN? Let us know, by either leaving a reaction below or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
