...as part of the Joe Buck deal.



Bryan Fischer
@BryanDFischer

ESPN seems to have traded ND at Ohio State to Fox for letting Joe Buck walk a year early then.

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Andrew Marchand
@AndrewMarchand
· 16h

Fox and ESPN first talked about compensation late last night. Fox will receive the rights to pick one Big 10 game before ESPN next season, a source with knowledge said.

It's a little more complicated than that, I'm told, but that is the gist.

https://nypost.com/2022/03/11/joe-buck-e...espn-deal/

(03-12-2022 12:35 PM)TerryD Wrote:  ...as part of the Joe Buck deal.

Bryan Fischer
@BryanDFischer

ESPN seems to have traded ND at Ohio State to Fox for letting Joe Buck walk a year early then.

ESPN will be paying the NFL about $2.7 billion annually, so they needed to get the best broadcast team available in the booth to help with the ratings. While losing the Notre Dame-Ohio State game has got to hurt, ABC/ESPN will still have a few other games on September 3rd to select from, thanks to the SEC:

Oregon vs Georgia in Atlanta (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game)
Utah at Florida
Cincinnati at Arkansas
Memphis at Mississippi State

or not-

(03-12-2022 07:32 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(03-12-2022 12:35 PM)TerryD Wrote:  ...as part of the Joe Buck deal.

Bryan Fischer
@BryanDFischer

ESPN seems to have traded ND at Ohio State to Fox for letting Joe Buck walk a year early then.

ESPN will be paying the NFL about $2.7 billion annually, so they needed to get the best broadcast team available in the booth to help with the ratings. While losing the Notre Dame-Ohio State game has got to hurt, ABC/ESPN will still have a few other games on September 3rd to select from, thanks to the SEC:

Oregon vs Georgia in Atlanta (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game)
Utah at Florida
Cincinnati at Arkansas
Memphis at Mississippi State

This is a reminder of priorities. For as much as we want to believe that ESPN is out to control college football, the reality is that their NFL package costs over twice as much as *all* of their college sports rights combined. There’s nothing more important to ESPN (and, frankly, FOX, CBS and NBC, too) than maximizing the value of their NFL games, which includes getting the right announcing team into place (which has been a problem at ESPN pretty much the whole time that MNF has been on ESPN as opposed to ABC).

Who does Fox go with??? They still have multiple SBs over the next decade plus. I can’t see Burkhart in the #1 play-by-play. And their color is weak behind Aikman. I don’t know… tough spot.

Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

(03-13-2022 09:56 AM)RUScarlets Wrote:  Who does Fox go with??? They still have multiple SBs over the next decade plus. I can’t see Burkhart in the #1 play-by-play. And their color is weak behind Aikman. I don’t know… tough spot.

I'd guess Burkhart- moving him and Olson up together.

Olsen is terrible. I think they need a trio in there for a couple years. Otherwise bring in Manning. Or do some due diligence on Brady. Brees has been a bomb on NBC thus far. Also think Aqib Talib should move up with Gus or someone like that.

Burkhart is also a devout Eagles fan. I can’t take him seriously calling Cowboy/Giant games.

(03-13-2022 10:35 AM)RUScarlets Wrote:  Olsen is terrible. I think they need a trio in there for a couple years. Otherwise bring in Manning. Or do some due diligence on Brady. Brees has been a bomb on NBC thus far. Also think Aqib Talib should move up with Gus or someone like that.

Burkhart is also a devout Eagles fan. I can’t take him seriously calling Cowboy/Giant games.

I would miss Gus Johnson on Big Ten games but he's the sportscaster that I would get excited about watching and I think he would be a good choice as lead analyst.

As for biased, anything's better than a Dallas Cowboy calling primarily Cowboys games and FOX essentially bending over backwards to make sure he goes to the Cowboys game every week. I remember one week the Eagles had to win to win the division and FOX insulted us and sent Troy to the Cowgirls game. Then there was the year the Cowboys played on Saturday in the playoffs, hinting the Sunday game was better. Troy went to the Cowboys game again.

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

(03-13-2022 10:35 AM)RUScarlets Wrote:  Olsen is terrible. I think they need a trio in there for a couple years. Otherwise bring in Manning. Or do some due diligence on Brady. Brees has been a bomb on NBC thus far. Also think Aqib Talib should move up with Gus or someone like that.

Burkhart is also a devout Eagles fan. I can’t take him seriously calling Cowboy/Giant games.

Aqib Talib is probably the best commentator that Fox has as of now. That would be my pick if I were running things, but the network brass does seem to like Olsen a lot.

I’ll throw in a name that we haven’t heard much about lately: Jay Cutler. Apparently, Fox was going to slot him in the #2 or #3 commentator slot right away a few years ago when he initially retired because he actually did really well in his test runs, but then the Dolphins convinced him to unretire and play one more year. For whatever reason, he didn’t go back to pursuing broadcasting. I remember his interviews and radio shows in Chicago and while I know that he has a smarmy image, you could tell that he had natural broadcast talent and wasn’t afraid of unvarnished opinions. Think Romo with a bit (or maybe a lot) more edge.

(03-13-2022 10:49 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

ESPN is spending nine figures for each Monday Night Football *game*. I honestly not surprised by anything here. ESPN *has* to get MNF right going forward. Even if they make Joe Buck the richest announcer in history, that’s basically the equivalent of the broadcast rights for about one quarter for one single MNF game. It’s effectively a rounding error at this point - giving up the #1 Big Ten pick for one season is honestly nothing in the scheme of things.

(03-13-2022 10:59 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:49 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

ESPN is spending nine figures for each Monday Night Football *game*. I honestly not surprised by anything here. ESPN *has* to get MNF right going forward. Even if they make Joe Buck the richest announcer in history, that’s basically the equivalent of the broadcast rights for about one quarter for one single MNF game. It’s effectively a rounding error at this point - giving up the #1 Big Ten pick for one season is honestly nothing in the scheme of things.

I don't think it's going to take the #1 selection. Fox really doesn't have enough leverage to force that. They can't afford to lose him for nothing. Getting the 2nd or 3rd selection from ESPN(which would be 4th or 6th week) will still be good for Fox.

(03-13-2022 11:06 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:59 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:49 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

ESPN is spending nine figures for each Monday Night Football *game*. I honestly not surprised by anything here. ESPN *has* to get MNF right going forward. Even if they make Joe Buck the richest announcer in history, that’s basically the equivalent of the broadcast rights for about one quarter for one single MNF game. It’s effectively a rounding error at this point - giving up the #1 Big Ten pick for one season is honestly nothing in the scheme of things.

I don't think it's going to take the #1 selection. Fox really doesn't have enough leverage to force that. They can't afford to lose him for nothing. Getting the 2nd or 3rd selection from ESPN(which would be 4th or 6th week) will still be good for Fox.

Possibly, but at the same, Fox knows ESPN is desperate and it’s a “time is of the essence” issue where they need the broadcast team in place next year. Remember that ABC/ESPN is also now in the Super Bowl rotation with the new TV contract. I don’t think there’s going to be much haggling - my guess is this is one instance where ESPN is just going to want to get it done. My impression is that ESPN is suuuuuper-motivated here, as evidenced by their Troy Aikman contract. Their subscriber fees for the rest of this decade are being banked on the watchability of MNF. Every NFL game is so far ahead of everything else in importance that I think people are underestimating how critical this is for ESPN.

To put it into perspective, even the least-watched MNF game this past year (a terrible Washington-Seattle matchup) had higher ratings than every single regular season college football game except for Michigan-Ohio State. The amount of interest in the NFL is simply insanely far ahead of everything else on TV.

(03-13-2022 10:59 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:49 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

ESPN is spending nine figures for each Monday Night Football *game*. I honestly not surprised by anything here. ESPN *has* to get MNF right going forward. Even if they make Joe Buck the richest announcer in history, that’s basically the equivalent of the broadcast rights for about one quarter for one single MNF game. It’s effectively a rounding error at this point - giving up the #1 Big Ten pick for one season is honestly nothing in the scheme of things.

Then Disney made the worst deal in the history of mankind trading Al Michaels for a bunny. I don't think I actually heard of Oswald until the trade was made.

(03-13-2022 11:41 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:59 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:49 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

ESPN is spending nine figures for each Monday Night Football *game*. I honestly not surprised by anything here. ESPN *has* to get MNF right going forward. Even if they make Joe Buck the richest announcer in history, that’s basically the equivalent of the broadcast rights for about one quarter for one single MNF game. It’s effectively a rounding error at this point - giving up the #1 Big Ten pick for one season is honestly nothing in the scheme of things.

Then Disney made the worst deal in the history of mankind trading Al Michaels for a bunny. I don't think I actually heard of Oswald until the trade was made.

See my post in one of the prior threads on this topic. (I can’t find it right now.) Essentially, Oswald was one of the first characters ever made by Walt Disney, but it was done as a contractor for Universal. Oswald became a popular animated short character that made a lot of money for Universal, which really peeved Walt and he vowed to keep the IP rights to his next character… which was Mickey Mouse. Oswald went into obscurity while Mickey literally created an empire. Universal still owned the IP rights to Oswald all of that time, though. So, the Disney company looked at the Al Michaels situation as getting a big piece of the company’s history (essentially the character that spurred Walt to create Mickey) that they never owned.

Ultimately, no one wants to keep a high profile employee that wants to move. It doesn’t make any sense for anyone involved. As a result it’s better to get something than nothing and keep the professionalism intact. Al Michaels made it clear that he was going to leave at the end of his contract at the time (just as Joe Buck apparently is doing now), so it’s no different than an MLB team trading someone at the deadline that’s going to be a free agent the end of the season and isn’t returning.

(03-13-2022 12:55 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 11:41 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:59 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:49 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 10:15 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Considering NBC gave up a bunny for Al Michaels, ESPN really should barely be giving up anything of value for Buck.

I could see a Big Ten selection, but not their #1 overall selection.

ESPN is spending nine figures for each Monday Night Football *game*. I honestly not surprised by anything here. ESPN *has* to get MNF right going forward. Even if they make Joe Buck the richest announcer in history, that’s basically the equivalent of the broadcast rights for about one quarter for one single MNF game. It’s effectively a rounding error at this point - giving up the #1 Big Ten pick for one season is honestly nothing in the scheme of things.

Then Disney made the worst deal in the history of mankind trading Al Michaels for a bunny. I don't think I actually heard of Oswald until the trade was made.

See my post in one of the prior threads on this topic. (I can’t find it right now.) Essentially, Oswald was one of the first characters ever made by Walt Disney, but it was done as a contractor for Universal. Oswald became a popular animated short character that made a lot of money for Universal, which really peeved Walt and he vowed to keep the IP rights to his next character… which was Mickey Mouse. Oswald went into obscurity while Mickey literally created an empire. Universal still owned the IP rights to Oswald all of that time, though. So, the Disney company looked at the Al Michaels situation as getting a big piece of the company’s history (essentially the character that spurred Walt to create Mickey) that they never owned.

Ultimately, no one wants to keep a high profile employee that wants to move. It doesn’t make any sense for anyone involved. As a result it’s better to get something than nothing and keep the professionalism intact. Al Michaels made it clear that he was going to leave at the end of his contract at the time (just as Joe Buck apparently is doing now), so it’s no different than an MLB team trading someone at the deadline that’s going to be a free agent the end of the season and isn’t returning.

And a lot of times things like that at the deadline don't get anywhere near the value than one would think.

So Buck/Aikman are done at Fox this upcoming Fall and doing MNF? When does the new job officially kick in? Fox has the SB next year. You'd think they'd want that duo onboard one more season.

(03-13-2022 01:10 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  So Buck/Aikman are done at Fox this upcoming Fall and doing MNF? When does the new job officially kick in? Fox has the SB next year. You'd think they'd want that duo onboard one more season.

The Aikman deal expired this year sounds like.

Just curious and off topic but where’s Booger? Is he still at CBS?