Fox will be loaning out one of its top announcing teams to NFL Network during Week 4.
NFL Network announced on Thursday that Fox’s No. 2 broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Joe Davis and analyst Greg Olsen will call the Minnesota Vikings-Pittsburgh Steelers game from Dublin, Ireland on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET. Fox’s Pam Oliver will serve as a sideline reporter alongside NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl. Fox’s Mike Pereira will chip in as rules analyst.
It’s not the first time Olsen has been loaned out by Fox to call a game on another platform. Last season, Olsen served as a game analyst during Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL doubleheader.
However, Fox hasn’t typically been too keen on lending its announcing talent out to other platforms. The network was reportedly hesitant to help out Netflix this season for their holiday doubleheader.
The announcement also marks a change of pace for NFL Network, which has traditionally used its own talent to fill its game broadcasts. Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner, for instance, have called a number of NFL Network’s international games in recent years.
With a record-setting seven international games this season, six of which air set to air on NFL Network, the channel’s talent would’ve been stretched pretty thin if they were used to call every single game. The move will also earn Fox a bit of goodwill, which is never a bad thing for a network that is in business with the most powerful sports league in the country.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.