Chase Daniel calls Fox exit ‘blessing in disguise’

Chase Daniel may have been upset when FS1 canceled The Facility, but he quickly turned it into a positive for his sports media career.

Daniel expected to be working with Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy and James Jones on FS1 this NFL season. He signed a two-year deal with Fox when The Facility was tasked with replacing Skip Bayless in 2024. But less than one year into their tenure, The Facility was canceled amid sweeping changes to FS1’s lineup to pave way for a new partnership with Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports. And for Daniel, it led to an unexpected opportunity with ESPN.

Daniel joined the latest episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast, where he discussed the surprise of being let go from Fox, and the transition to calling games for ESPN.

“I thought we had a great crew, it just didn’t work out,” Daniel said of The Facility. “ The TV landscape is ever changing and with what they’re doing with Barstool and how ESPN is going DTC and how they’re having SportsCenter that’s just for you as a fan. That’s crazy to me. And so, I do think I’m in a really good spot to continue to evolve as an analyst, but the Fox stuff was great, I really enjoyed my time there.”

Commuting daily from San Diego to Los Angeles, the retired NFL quarterback was all in on the show and all in on believing they would get more than one year to mesh. Chase Daniel couldn’t go into too many details regarding his exit from Fox, but when asked whether he had any clue that The Facility was going to be canceled after just one year, the former NFL quarterback admitted he was surprised when the phone call came.

“I was surprised. When you sign a two-year deal, a new show, and I know they always change lineups, but as a two-year deal you’re always a little bit surprised,” Daniel said. “And it was one of those things where it ended up being a blessing in disguise a little bit because I knew I wanted to get in the game calling and there might have been some stuff with Fox, but I’m exactly where I need to be right now.”

And right now, he’s at ESPN. One month after The Facility was canceled, Daniel joined ESPN as a college football game analyst. It’s something he was always interested in doing, but aside from calling two UFL games remotely for Fox, Daniel didn’t have any experience as a game analyst. In addition to calling games, Daniel says he will return to doing studio work for ESPN when the college football season ends.

When The Facility was canceled in July, the timing couldn’t have been worse for a football analyst. By that time, other networks are expected to already have their broadcast teams situated. Yet ESPN saw enough from Chase Daniel to make an investment by carving out a full-time role for him weeks before the college football season began. And Daniel can now look back on the once daunting news that he was being let go by Fox Sports as a blessing in disguise.

Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Chase Daniel and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.