Fox has reportedly decided on who will succeed Joe Buck as the network’s leading NFL play-by-play broadcaster: Kevin Burkhardt.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Burkhardt is set to earn a promotion and take over the top in-game NFL role at Fox beginning with the 2022 season. He previously served as the No. 2 NFL play-by-play broadcaster at the network, alongside former tight end Greg Olsen.
Burkhardt, 48, is now positioned to broadcast two of the next three Super Bowls at Fox. The network has the rights to next season’s championship game on Feb. 12, 2023, as well as those to Super Bowl LIX in '25.
Fox Sports declined to comment on the report of the hiring, per Marchand.
Burkhardt is poised to replace Buck, who spent nearly the last three decades at FOX, where he called 24 World Series and six Super Bowls. However, the 52-year-old Buck left the network earlier this offseason to join broadcast partner Troy Aikman at ESPN. The duo is set to revamp ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast starting this fall, replacing the trio of Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick.
At this time, it remains unclear who will sit opposite of Burkhardt in the broadcast booth on Sunday afternoons in 2022. Olsen, who began his stint at Fox just in the fall of '21, is considered to be a candidate for the position alongside Burkhardt but is not guaranteed to receive the spot, according to Marchand.
