Erin Andrews has re-upped with Fox Sports for a new multi-year deal, but the new contract comes with a change. Andrews will no longer be part of the network’s MLB coverage and will focus solely on NFL work.
As reported by Sports Illustrated‘s Richard Deitsch, Fox’s top MLB broadcast team will be what we saw in Tuesday’s All-Star Game with Joe Buck doing play-by-play and John Smoltz providing analysis, accompanied by Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci reporting from the dugouts.
Andrews joined Fox Sports four years ago after moving from ESPN. She initially also had a role in the network’s college football coverage, hosting its failed Fox College Saturday studio show, in addition to working as the top reporter on NFL and MLB coverage. On MLB telecasts, she filed reports from the dugout and also hosted the trophy presentation to the World Series winner.
Fulfilling those MLB duties were likely difficult during the past couple years for Andrews, due to her co-hosting role on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. The show has two seasons per year, one in the spring and one in the fall, with the latter running at the same time as the MLB postseason and NFL regular season.
https://youtu.be/oQ-4qSA72bQ
That conflict has now obviously been eliminated, allowing Andrews to likely focus on NFL reporting for most of the week, while hosting Dancing with the Stars on Monday nights. A streamlined role concentrating on the NFL was surely important to Fox, which has the broadcast rights to Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5, 2017.
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About Ian Casselberry
Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.