Could Colin Cowherd Leave FOX Sports For Reunion With ESPN?
It’s no secret that one of the hottest on-screen personalities resides with Fox in Colin Cowherd. Cowherd signed with Fox Sports in August of 2015 after leaving the worldwide leader in sports: ESPN. He did a plethora of things with the company until his departure in the months prior to August. After a nasty breakup, could he and ESPN be getting back together?
It’s been a rough go of it lately for Fox Sports. First Shannon Sharpe left, showing that no one really wants to work with Skip Bayless, and now Colin Cowherd might be next. I can’t blame them for wanting to add him back, love his opinions or hate them he generates a lot of buzz when he’s in front of a microphone. The rumor is that Cowherds’ contract ends in the first part of 2025, shortly after the NFL season. After throwing the bag at Pat McAfee, they might back the Brinks truck up for Cowherd. Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports first reported the rumors.
“The monster negotiation coming up for Fox is Colin,” one source told McCarthy. “His ratings are at an all-time high. And he causes zero issues — unlike Skip Bayless.”
Colin Cowherd had found a bit of success during his tenure with Fox Sports. His show, The Herd, has gone strong for eight years, he launched his platform The Volume (which stole one of our interns) and he also appears on FOX NFL Kickoff during the season. It makes you wonder if he can have this level of comfortability back with ESPN. With the canceling of the “Keyshawn, Jay Will, and Max” show, as all of them were laid off by the company, they will surely look to boost ESPN radio numbers.
ESPN could be turning Fox Sports into their own minor league farm system. Stephen A. Smith said recently he wants Shannon Sharpe to join him on First Take. If they land Sharpe and Colin Cowherd, it will be over for the competition. Maybe all these layoffs in the last month or two are to clear the space for the big-time contracts from the Fox guys.
We could be in for a reunion in Bristol, Conn. Buckle up, because those negotiations between Cowherd and ESPN are going to be crazy, and if they strike a deal, it could be the largest in sports media history. Something to keep an eye on.
