ESPN has developed a habit of making changes to its Monday Night Football broadcasting boosts on a yearly basis in an effort to boost NFL TV ratings. With the network’s expanded partnership with the NFL kicking in next season, new changes are coming with ESPN’s announcers.
Disney committed tens of millions of dollars in 2022 to create one of the best broadcasts on television. It lured Troy Aikman and Joe Buck away from FOX, hiring the most recognized NFL broadcasting duo to lead ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth.
The company also signed a new deal with Eli and Peyton Manning to continue the ManningCast, dedicating more than $15 million for each of its broadcasts of NFL games on Monday night. With a new deal signed with the NFL bringing even more games to ESPN this upcoming season, another change has been made in the booth.
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According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, ESPN is replacing play-by-play voice Steve Levy with Chris Fowler on its secondary broadcast team for Monday Night Football. The change will go into place this year, with Fowler likely partnered up with analysts Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky.
Marchand also notes that Fowler recently signed a contract extension with ESPN after completing a nine-year deal that was worth just over $30 million. While the terms of Fowler’s new contract aren’t known, the network is clearly planning an extended role for him moving forward.
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Fowler joined ESPN in 1986, working his way up the ranks as a sideline reporter and eventually the host of College GameDay. He’s most well-known for being Disney’s top play-by-play man for college football, working the top games on ABC and ESPN.
In his last stint working in the NFL broadcasting booth, Fowler worked alongside analyst Kirk Herbstreit, before Herbstreit left for the same role for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. ESPN has been conducting layoffs and pay cuts in recent weeks, but Fowler was retained as an integral part of the network’s broadcast team.
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With Riddick fielding interest from NFL teams for general manager vacancies in recent years and clubs starting to look at Orlovsky as a future NFL coach, it’s possible ESPN will be making even more changes in the booth by next year.