Joe Buck reportedly signs $108M ESPN extension through 2032
Joe Buck will reportedly stay in ESPN's Monday night booth through 2032 under a six-year, $108 million extension.
The agreement was reported by The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, with details outlined by Deadline. It has not been confirmed by the network. That distinction matters in television, where a reported deal only becomes final when the parties confirm it.
Buck is ESPN's "Monday Night Football" play-by-play announcer, the caller who describes each play live, as noted by the Los Angeles Times. He moved from Fox to ESPN in 2022 after two decades calling games on Fox alongside Troy Aikman. He is now in the final year of a five-year contract worth $75 million, so the new term would carry him well past that deal into the next decade.
The new terms lift his pay from $15 million a year to $18 million a year, according to Yahoo Sports. That $18 million figure ties Aikman's annual salary. Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee both earn more annually from ESPN than Buck's new rate, according to Fox News/OutKick.
The pay rise reflects a familiar structure in sports television, where lead game callers sign long, fixed terms that lock a network's sound for several seasons. For ESPN, the organisation behind Monday night games, holding that pairing steady avoids a search for a new voice in its most exposed slot.
Timing is central to the story. Buck is set to call his first Super Bowl for ESPN in February, with Super Bowl coverage slated to air on ESPN and ABC. The extension would also keep him in place to call the Super Bowl again in 2031. Aikman's current contract is set to expire after the Super Bowl, which leaves one half of the booth settled, as reported, and the other still to be resolved.
ESPN declined to confirm the figures. EVP of Communications Josh Krulewitz said the company will not address talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl.
For fans, this means continuity if the report holds. The same pairing that spent 20 years on Fox would stay together on ESPN's biggest nights, including the sport's championship game. Contracts still need signatures and statements. But the plan, as reported, keeps a favourite sound in a familiar slot, and lets viewers know who will guide them through the biggest games ahead.
