As if a Super Bowl victory for his beloved Kansas City Chiefs weren’t enough, Fox Sports 1 host Nick Wright also got a massive show of support this week from sports media veteran Dan Le Batard, who hyped up Wright as the “face” of Fox Sports 1 and implored Fox execs to pay Wright whatever he wants to keep him.
Wright’s First Things First midday show on FS1 has drawn record ratings this NFL season while the native KCMOer Wright’s profile has risen as one of the only prominent sports media personalities in touch with the Chiefs’ dynasty.
After Wright waltzed onto the FTF set on Monday after the Chiefs’ second straight championship and sat upon a throne, the always cloying Le Batard was like a proud father.
“He wins all the things, and Fox, pay that man,” Le Batard insisted on Tuesday’s Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “He is underpaid and he’s gonna break all the contracts and he should when he’s the face of your network … he is killing the media game.”
Le Batard has long made a joke of the media business, gaining a bristling reputation at ESPN not only because of his social commentary but also his show’s rage-against-the-machine ethos. It’s no surprise he would champion Wright’s screwball antics.
“One of the things this week that has made me laugh and has moved me is … to watch Nick Wright toy with the media game and arrive at full clownhood,” Le Batard said. “Where he wins the media game, he’s got a following at FS1, Skip Bayless is on his way out, (Colin) Cowherd is building his own empire so he can sell it to somebody else, and Nick Wright is the face of that network now.”
Indeed, Bayless’ contract is set to expire this year, leaving the future of FS1’s mid-morning slot uncertain. Cowherd has said he has a decade left in the business, but that could be as part of his digital production company The Volume if he were to leave Fox.
Wright finally found stable footing alongside Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes on FTF. With his goofy, homer character gaining popularity, Wright is poised to continue his rise.
[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz]
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.