Fox Sports, a few weeks after making a splash by announcing Tom Brady would be joining the network as an NFL analyst when his playing career is over, has confirmed its lead announcing talent for 2022.
As expected, Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen have been named lead play-by-play announcer and analyst, replacing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. In a stunning move prior to the Brady bombshell, Fox parted ways with Buck and Aikman after more than 20 years, with the pair shifting to ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
Burkhardt and Olsen will be joined by reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi as well as rules expert Mike Pereira, Fox said. The team will handle regular season and playoff games, culminating with Fox’s 10th Super Bowl telecast in February.
With the NFL continuing to draw potent ratings despite myriad changes to the pay-TV ecosystem, announcing talent has considerable negotiating leverage and the hierarchy has been in a state of flux. The dean of NFL broadcasters, Al Michaels, recently left NBC’s Sunday Night Football for Amazon, which has exclusive rights to Thursday night games starting this fall.
A rich contract given to lead CBS analyst Tony Romo, who could reportedly make $180 million over 10 years, has upped the ante for others in the booth. Fox has pushed back against reports that Brady’s deal is worth $375 million, though his role will also include a range of ambassadorial and sponsor-related duties. After announcing his retirement last February, Brady reversed the decision and said he will suit up for a 23rd NFL season this fall. He will turn 45 years old in August.
“Last season, Kevin and Greg showed viewers their undeniable chemistry and ability to call football at an elite level,” Fox Sports President of Production/Operations and Executive Producer Brad Zager said in a press release.
Olsen in 2021 became Fox’s No. 2 NFL game analyst, working alongside Burkhardt. The two have ties going back to their upbringing in New Jersey. Olsen, who retired in 2020 after a 14-year career in the NFL, played at Wayne Hills High School and Burkhardt called some of Olsen’s games for WGHT-TV. The two worked together again in 2017, when Olsen started doing on-air work for Fox.
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