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NEW YORK — The competition among NFL media partners to produce the best TV and streaming coverage is fierce. Stars matter. With that in mind, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro says viewers should look for three big names to get more airtime this fall: Rich Eisen, Stephen A. Smith, and Chris Berman.
During this week’s upfront presentations, ESPN announced it is bringing The Rich Eisen Show to ESPN+ and Disney+. As a result, the show will be available on the “unlimited” and “select” versions of its direct-to-consumer product. But the former SportsCenter anchor, who left in 2003 to become the face of NFL Network, will also make select appearances on ESPN’s TV coverage.
Meanwhile, Smith will get his wish to cover the NFL like his role model, Howard Cosell. Look for Smith to appear on Monday Night Countdown. Front Office Sports broke the news on Monday that Berman has agreed to a new contract extension that will take him through ESPN’s first Super Bowl in 2027—and his record 50th year at the network in 2029, when ESPN itself celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Pitaro told FOS this on Monday: “On Chris and Rich, absolutely. We are exploring right now how to use them more around NFL content. On Stephen, I would say yes as well. We are very open to Stephen getting more involved on the NFL. We’ve had some exploratory conversations with him. We know that the league really likes Stephen. So there could be something to do there. That being said, we’re really happy with what we have in terms of NFL Live, Sunday [NFL] Countdown, Monday Night Countdown. We feel like we’re in a good spot right now. But there’s always room for someone like Stephen.”
Over the last few years, Pitaro and his No. 2, Burke Magnus, made it a priority to repair the network’s formerly frayed relationship with the NFL. That has paid dividends with ESPN finally breaking into the Super Bowl rotation after the 2026 and 2030 seasons and scoring stronger Monday Night Football schedules.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have dethroned the Cowboys as America’s Favorite TV team. ESPN will get the Chiefs twice this season as part of its 25-game slate. MNF will come out of the gate fast, with 11 telecasts over the season’s first seven weeks. On paper, ESPN’s three strongest matchups look to be Eagles-Packers (Nov. 10), Chiefs-Commanders (Oct. 27), and Lions-Ravens (Sept. 22).
This season will mark the fourth year for the MNF announce team of Troy Aikman, Joe Buck, and Lisa Salters, while Omaha Productions’ popular ManningCast with Peyton and Eli Manning will enter its fifth year on ESPN2.
Meanwhile, ESPN remains engaged in talks with the league about potentially acquiring NFL Media, said Pitaro, although there’s nothing imminent to report. The league’s media operation could fetch up to $2 billion, according to ProFootballTalk. I could see NFL Media content folding nicely into the menu of offerings on ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer platform, expected to launch in time for football season.
Everything and anything that ESPN is doing NFL-wise points to the network televising its first Super Bowl on Feb. 14, 2027, from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Big Game will be simulcast on sister Disney network ABC.
The network has installed a countdown clock to Super Bowl LXI on its corporate campus in Bristol, Conn. When I asked Pitaro how long the network’s pregame show would run, he just laughed.
As ESPN communications boss Josh Krulewitz joked: “Probably starts tomorrow.”
