After making some guest appearances on Fox Sports Radio, Nick Wright set his sights on California.
On the Awful Announcing podcast, Nick Wright recently discussed his bold career move nearly a decade ago. He took the initiative by approaching the head of ESPN LA and the leadership at Fox Sports Radio, which has a significant presence in LA. While neither had immediate openings, Wright impressed them both, particularly at ESPN LA with the head and even Max Kellerman.
Fox Sports Radio was amid a strategic shift, planning to announce Colin Cowherd’s arrival and increase collaboration with FS1. This created an opportunity for Wright. His potential simulcast with FS1 might have factored into their decision, leading to a meeting with then-FS1 head Jamie Horowitz for approval. Ultimately, Fox Sports Radio was receptive to hiring him.
Horowitz expressed his surprise that Wright hadn’t approached him for a job, believing Wright’s radio skills would translate well to television. After multiple auditions, Wright met with his future boss, Charlie Dixon, and landed offers from both ESPN and FS1 around the following Super Bowl — Jan. 2016.
“Through the great wisdom and advice of my wife, I went with FS1,” Wright told host Brandon Contes. “And it’s been one of the best decisions I ever made.”
ESPN’s offer was initially an unknown radio show local in Los Angeles with weekly television appearances. Wright’s guess was Around the Horn or something like that, then. The Worldwide Leader told him at the very end that the radio show would be in LA. And while Wright didn’t remember who had it then, he wasn’t going to say what timeslot, as it was a major timeslot in LA.
“It’s funny how life works. I accepted the offer from FS1 on a Tuesday night, and on Wednesday morning, the ESPN folks called me and were like, ‘Hey, we finally have it locked down. We know exactly what show you’d be doing, and because of the show you’d be doing, it’s actually a little more money than I thought,'” Wright explained. “And if I’m being totally honest, I was absolutely crushed. Because my whole goal was to get a big-time radio show in LA and get on TV a little bit.
“And I told the guy — and to his credit, he didn’t push me on it — I told him, I was like, ‘Listen, I accepted last night. And while I haven’t signed anything, I told him yes. I’m not gonna go back on that. It’s not how I do business.’ And I thought I had made a grievous error. I got off the phone, and I cried.”
Wright couldn’t believe he sent that email and was asking himself what he had done. On top of that, he was nervous because he hadn’t done TV before.
“It’s just funny how life works out,” he continued. “I started April 20, 2016, six months after that, ESPN did a massive round of layoffs. And I’m pretty confident I would’ve been one of those people. Do you know what I mean? Because I had been brand new, whatever. Meanwhile, around that exact same time, FS1 was talking to me about moving to New York to front First Things First with Cris Carter. It ended up being the best thing for me.
“And I really like the fact that, and I don’t know if ego’s the right word, but I think it’s really cool that of all the people on or who have been on FS1, the only two that are basically FS1 products are me and Joy (Taylor). The former athletes are in a different category. Their original employer was the Philadelphia Eagles or whomever. But everyone else kind of came through the pipeline.
“I look at FS1 as a place that took a chance on me, that developed me. And Joy got hired the same week I did. And Joy and I were in a very similar spot. She was in from local radio in Miami. I was in from local radio in Houston. And both of our families had stayed. My wife and kids were in Houston; I was commuting on the weekends. Joy’s family was in Miami; she was commuting when she could. And she and both were out there like, ‘I guess we’re gonna try this thing out.’ And so, she’s one of my favorite people.
“It’s been a long time. What’s that been, eight years? Eight years is the longest I’ve ever worked anywhere. So, yeah, it’s great.”
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