Jason Benetti
ESPNFoxMLBNCAABy Matt Clapp on

Brett McMurphy of Action Network reports on Sunday night that play-by-play man Jason Benetti will leave ESPN to join Fox Sports.

Benetti will be the play-by-play voice of Fox Sports’ No. 2 college football broadcast team alongside Brock Huard, according to McMurphy.

This news — including the specifics of Benetti working alongside Huard — was rumored on Friday, with Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times the first to report a potential deal was in the works. So, this isn’t exactly a surprise.

Benetti is a rising star and already one of the most versatile broadcasters in the industry. He joined ESPN in 2011, and he’s called college football, college basketball, and Major League Baseball games and events — among other sports and events — with the network.

The 38-year-old has also been the television play-by-play voice of the Chicago White Sox on NBC Sports Chicago since 2016, and he’s the alternate play-by-play voice for the Chicago Bulls on NBC Sports Chicago.

Additionally, Benetti calls MLB Sunday Leadoff games on Peacock, as he did for Sunday morning’s game between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. And in 2021, he called baseball games in the Summer Olympics for NBC.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported on Friday that Benetti will also call MLB and college basketball games at Fox, and added that Benetti will no longer call MLB games for Peacock after this season.

At Fox, Benetti will get the opportunity to call Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-12 games. As the No. 2 college football broadcast team, Benetti and Huard — who left ESPN for Fox in 2019 — would only be behind Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt in the Fox rotation.

As Awful Announcing’s Joe Lucia noted in response to Friday’s report, Benetti joining Huard hints that Joe Davis could become the play-by-play voice of Fox’s No. 2 NFL broadcast team (Davis has already replaced Joe Buck — who’s now at ESPN — as Fox’s lead MLB voice):

The blurb that Benetti would team with Huard, who left ESPN for Fox in 2019, gives us a significant hint about Fox’s plans for both their college football and NFL coverage this fall. Since joining the company, Huard has teamed with Joe Davis (funky 2020 pandemic season aside) as the #2 team. If Benetti is brought in to work with Huard, that would give more credence to the rumors that Davis will be Fox’s new #2 NFL broadcaster, a role opened up following Joe Buck’s departure to ESPN and Kevin Burkhardt’s promotion to Buck’s top job.

[Brett McMurphy; Jeff Agrest; Andrew Marchand]

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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