Report: NFL on Fox decides on 2024 broadcast teams
Tom Brady will make his NFL on Fox debut in September. And the legendary quarterback will call games with long-time play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
That was a known pairing for the Fox-NFL Sunday team. Those two will call the game of the week each Sunday. But adding Brady, who retired from football in February, 2023, forced the network to shift other popular pairings.
Andrew Marchand, who covers sports media for The Athletic, reported the other duos on Thursday afternoon.
Greg Olsen-Joe Davis will be Fox-NFL No. 2 team
So this means that Greg Olsen and Burkhardt have officially broken up as the top Fox-NFL team. According to Marchand, Olsen will work as an analyst with Joe Davis. Olsen, the former Carolina Panthers tight end, and Burkhardt had worked together since 2021.
Other pairings are Adam Amin with Mark Sanchez, the former NFL quarterback. Kenny Albert will work with Jon Vilma, an ex linebacker for the Jets and Saints. Kevin Kugler will call games with Daryl Johnston, the popular former Cowboys fullback. And Fox-NFL will pair Chris Myers with Mark Schlereth, the ex Denver/Washington offensive lineman.
NFL is big business for network television. The biggest games always are the most-watched programming of the week. For 2023, 96 of the 100 most watched TV programming were NFL games. For context, NFL games ranked 1-22. The most popular non-NFL program was the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade coverage. The Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl in February, 2023, was the most watched at 114.3 million. The most-watched regular season game was the Cowboys-Commanders at 41.76 million.
Fox sported three of top five most-watched games of 2023
The NFL on Fox averaged 19 million viewers per game. That was a two percent drop from 2022. But the audience for the national game ticked up two percent from the year before. Overall, NFL on Fox had three of the top five most watched games.
NBC tops all the networks with its Sunday Night Football. The game averaged 21.4 million viewers each Sunday evening. The average was the best registered at NBC in nine seasons.
Meanwhile, CBS averaged 19.3 million. That was its highest average since 1998. ESPN, the home of Monday Night Football, saw a huge gain in its audience. The all-sports network averaged 17.4 million viewers. That was the best for MNF since 2000, back when it was on ABC. The total audience also was up 29 percent from 2022. However, because of the strikes in Hollywood, MNF was broadcast on both ESPN and ABC.
The presence of Brady should be a boost for NFL on Fox. After all, fans will want to check out the quarterback who won seven Super Bowls. The network signed him after he retired the first time, giving him a 10-year, $375 million contract. He’ll be the highest-paid announcer ever.