The vast majority of talk about NFL broadcasting changes this offseason has been about broadcast booths, with Fox’s Troy Aikman (and possibly Joe Buck) reportedly heading to ESPN and with a lot of remaining uncertainty about Al Michaels, Amazon, and more. Those who represent sideline reporters would undoubtedly like to make sure we don’t forget about them as well. And that’s important context to keep in mind with the latest report here, with Andrew Marchand of The New York Post writing Monday about Erin Andrews’ expiring contract with Fox:
The Post has learned that Fox’s top NFL sideline reporter, Erin Andrews, will become a free agent shortly. Fox would like to keep her, according to sources.
ESPN recently signed Lisa Salters to continue on its sidelines. Salters is expected to stay in her role on the Aikman-led MNF.
ESPN would have interest in talking with Andrews, according to sources, about a return to the network where she started. However, there have been no discussions yet.
…Amazon and NBC, in theory, could be a landing spot for Andrews as they are in need of sideline reporters, but an initial indication, from sources, was that they may not be viewed as a match. NBC’s Michele Tafoya retired from the “Sunday Night Football” sideline, but in-house candidate Kathryn Tappen is expected to replace her.
An important note in there is about the lack of obvious landing places. If Tappen gets elevated to replace Tafoya (who has rather dramatically pivoted to politics), NBC has no further need there for their one game a week. Sure, Amazon could be in play, but there are seemingly plenty of people they could tab. And even at Fox itselft, while Marchand’s report that they “would like to keep her” may well be correct, they have quite a few prominent sideline reporters beyond Andrews, including Rinaldi and Kristina Pink. An ESPN reunion might make some sense, especially with that network reportedly set to get a larger NFL package, but that’s not a sure thing either.
Andrews has done a solid job on college football and NFL broadcasts for ESPN and then Fox for the past decade-plus. And it certainly seems likely there will be some sports media work for her in the years ahead. But there are a lot of questions about just what that will look like. We’ll see how it all plays out.
