One of ESPN’s most talented broadcasters could test free agency in 2023.
Chris Fowler’s contract with ESPN is set to expire next year, according to Front Office Sports. He’s finishing up a nine-year deal that was announced back in 2014.
For years, Fowler has done an outstanding job of calling the top college football games and Grand Slam tennis matches for ESPN.
ESPN and Fowler have mutual interest in a new deal, per the report from Front Office Sports. That being said, there will be other suitors.
Fox Sports is reportedly eying Fowler as a possible host for its “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show. That’d be a huge hire for the network.
ESPN whisperer James Andrew Miller commented on Fowler’s future while on Richard Deitsch’s “Sports Media” podcast.
There won’t be anybody at ESPN who will say, ‘We don’t want to keep Chris Fowler.’ But are there going to be people who are going to be, dare I say, audacious enough to say, ‘We only want to keep Chris Fowler at a certain price’? To me that sounds crazy,” Miller said. “But let’s see how far this discipline of theirs extends. … They could cross their hands and say, ‘Where else are you going to get tennis? We basically own tennis.'”
Fowler, 60, has been with ESPN for over three decades. As of now, the sports media world would be surprised if he left.