Joe Buck has agreed to a six-year contract extension with ESPN worth roughly $108 million, keeping him as the play-by-play voice of "Monday Night Football," TheWrap reported on September 16, citing The Athletic's Andrew Marchand.
The extension pays Buck about $18 million per year. His previous ESPN contract, a five-year deal signed in 2022, paid him $15 million annually, according to TheWrap. Buck had just started the final season of that original contract when the new deal was reached, per Bleacher Report.
The terms
TheWrap reports the contract keeps Buck at ESPN through the Super Bowl in 2031, and that he is set to call Super Bowl LXI in February, the first Super Bowl carried by ESPN and ABC. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has said he wants Buck to call the World Series if ESPN acquires those rights beginning in 2029, according to TheWrap.
ESPN declined to discuss the numbers. "With this historic season for ESPN now underway, our entire focus is on bringing fans the best possible football coverage, culminating with our first Super Bowl. To that end, we won't be addressing talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl," ESPN executive vice president of communications Josh Krulewitz said, per TheWrap.
Troy Aikman's contract
Buck and Troy Aikman both left Fox for ESPN in 2022, according to Pro Football Talk. Aikman has not signed an extension. He is in the final year of a five-year, $90 million contract, per TheWrap, and Pro Football Talk reports that deal pays him $18 million annually and runs through the Super Bowl. The 2026 season is the pair's 25th calling NFL games together, according to TheWrap.
The extension lands in ESPN's first season since the league took a 10% ownership stake in ESPN in exchange for media assets, a deal Roger Goodell followed by pledging editorial independence to ESPN employees. It also follows another network move for a top NFL voice, as Russell Wilson moved to CBS Sports' "The NFL Today".
Source: TheWrap
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