Buck and Aikman are heading for a breakup
Bryan Bennett/Getty Images
On Fridays, the Brew’s Dave Lozo looks at a sports business story that says a lot more than just the final score of a game.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have been together longer than most couples—almost 25 years. But now, the Monday Night Football broadcasters are in the midst of a messy, reportedly almost violent divorce.
That’s wrong, Joe: The acrimony stems from ESPN and Buck reportedly agreeing to a six-year, $108 million deal a month ago for the play-by-play announcer to continue saying “it depends on the spot.” Meanwhile, Aikman has reportedly said the network doesn’t want to renew his contract after this season. Buck doing his deal without Aikman likely has the former quarterback feeling betrayed.
The other issue is reportedly money. Fox is said to be paying Tom Brady $37.5 million a year to do the same job as Aikman, who wants ~$30 million a year to make potentially millions of comparisons of equality on air. ESPN balked at that price, according to Puck.
Speculated potential replacements include Fox’s Greg Olsen, Amazon/ESPN’s noted dog owner Kirk Herbstreit, Rams coach Sean McVay (if he retires), and the ubiquitous Pat McAfee, who has mercifully rejected it as a possibility.—DL
