It’s always interesting to see who stays with a network when rights deals expire and move to other networks. Barry Melrose is probably the most notorious example of this, the last remnant (I guess John Buccigross counts) of ESPN’s decade-long broadcasts of the National Hockey League. Despite the World Cup and Premier League leaving, ESPN has kept a bevy of international soccer analysts, though obviously that’s a little different with MLS and Euro and U.S. men’s national team rights at hand.
ESPN already announced earlier in the year that lead NASCAR race announcer Allen Bestwick would be remaining with the network after next season, when the rights move permanently to NBC and Fox. He’ll stay on with the network to call IndyCar races, including the prestigious Indianapolis 500. Similarly staying on with The Worldwide Leader post-2014 is reporter Marty Smith.
Smith, ESPN’s lead NASCAR race reporter since 2007, will transition into becoming a bureau reporter for the network out of Charlotte, in addition to writing about racing for ESPN.com. Out of Charlotte, Smith will cover the NBA, NFL as well as college football and hoops. One of his first big gigs for the network will be the Charlotte NBA franchise’s first home opener back under the name Hornets. His podcast with ESPN the Magazine writer Ryan McGee will stick around.
That’s good for the network and good for NASCAR fans, keeping some sort of presence at the network despite moving on. Smith appears to be the network’s lead NASCAR voice in the wake of losing the rights, similar to how Melrose maintains ESPN’s hockey presence. Smith has broken a lot of stories for the network, so it keeps them competitive from a news-gathering side as well.
