Colin Cowherd recently signed a contract extension with Fox Sports, but a return to ESPN was also an option.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported Wednesday morning that Cowherd met with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro in Los Angeles prior to Super Bowl LIX, where they discussed the possibility of a reunion. Shortly after the meeting with Pitaro, Cowherd ended ESPN’s pursuit by signing a three-year deal with Fox Sports.
This isn’t the first time ESPN expressed interest in reuniting with Cowherd. While their 2015 split wasn’t particularly smooth, with ESPN suspending him on his way out the door over controversial remarks on Dominican baseball players, Cowherd has said the Worldwide Leader has continued to reach out on occasion.
Two years ago, Cowherd told Marchand he took a meeting with a now-former ESPN executive who was interested in the idea of a reunion. And in 2018, then-senior vice president of ESPN Audio Traug Keller expressed interest in bringing Cowherd back. Despite their unceremonious break-up, ESPN has repeatedly shown a sense of seller’s remorse with Cowherd.
The addition of Pat McAfee should have seemingly lessened ESPN’s desire to bring Cowherd back. McAfee doesn’t fill the void left by Cowherd on ESPN Radio, but ESPN’s simulcast of The Pat McAfee Show directly competes with Cowherd’s FS1 show. According to Marchand, however, ESPN was interested in having both Cowherd and McAfee, despite the fact that they currently fill similar roles. Maybe that’s true, but the addition of Cowherd would undoubtedly have created more questions around McAfee’s partnership with ESPN. And McAfee doesn’t usually take well to handling those questions.
Exactly how Cowherd would have been used is unknown. But with ESPN’s long-awaited direct-to-consumer streaming service internally known as “Flagship” set to be rolled out this fall, the Worldwide Leader likely envisioned Cowherd being able to bolster its platform, rather than replace anyone on it.
Since departing ESPN, Cowherd has also founded his own podcast platform, The Volume, which Marchand reports could have been part of those discussions with Pitaro. But that wouldn’t come cheaply, with Cowherd previously saying The Volume was worth more than $100 million.
Ultimately, Cowherd re-signed with Fox Sports on a three-year deal and maintained control of his podcast platform. If history is any indication, however, expect ESPN to poke Cowherd again in three years, when his current deal with Fox Sports winds down.