When Andrew Marchand announced that he was leaving the New York Post for The Athletic, it brought together two of the biggest names in sports media coverage.
That combo became literal this week when Marchand appeared on Richard Deitsch’s Sports Media podcast to talk about the state of the industry.
The two Athletic reporters covered a lot of ground, including Caitlin Clark’s impact, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s recent career move, the potential Disney-Fox-WBD joint streaming venture, and more. Naturally, you can’t get two sports media folks together and not have the discussion gravitate toward Tom Brady and the 10-year, $357-million deal that will put him in Fox’s top NFL booth this upcoming season.
Marchand knows all too well the perils of making predictions about Brady’s broadcasting future, but that didn’t stop Deitsch from offering up a fairly bold proclamation about how long the former NFL quarterback will stick around.
“I’d bet all the money I own that Tom Brady will not complete the Fox contract,” Deitsch said. “I can’t tell you how many years he will be there, but it seems inconceivable, to me, that he would be there for all 10.”
That was also part of a discussion around Greg Olsen, who will be presumably dropping to Fox’s No. 2 booth this season and taking a haircut on his salary in the process. While many have wondered if and when Olsen might bolt for a competitor, Deitsch thinks it’s in his best interest to play the long game because “either another job at another network comes up or Brady eventually either tires or sorta moves onto something else.”
Despite his lack of experience, Marchand is pretty convinced that Brady will do well in the role, thanks in large part to working alongside Kevin Burkhardt.
“Kevin Burkhardt is a very good play-by-player, but what he’s really the best at is getting a lot out of his teammate,” Marchand said. “I think Olsen’s success had something to do with [having] Burkhardt as a partner. Kevin is unselfish and wants his analyst to do well.
“He [made] it about Olsen, and he will make it about Brady. That’s a huge advantage for him that the point guard that he’s going to have is someone who wants to make him look good and put him in good situations to do well.”
One aspect of the situation that is likely to be unique to Brady, and Fox, is the kind of fame that the Hall of Famer brings with him when he steps into a football stadium,
“When Brady goes into a stadium, Fox is gonna have to have a plan. He doesn’t just walk in necessarily. People see Tom Brady, they want autographs. Not that they don’t want autographs of these other people, it’s just a different level. There’s security, there’s stuff that you have to think about that is a little bit different than when Greg [Olsen] goes into a stadium.
“It’s like The Beatles, it’s [Michael] Jordan. It’s a different level of fame that you have to combat and think about.”
