FOX Sports has decided against assigning $375 million analyst Tom Brady and play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt for a marquee late-season game.
Tom Brady is nearly a month into the lucrative 10-year deal he signed with FOX Sports worth $375 million in 2022. The network assigns its No. 1 commentary team of Brady, Burkhardt, and sideline reporter Erin Andrews to their top game each week.
Even though Dec. 25 falls on a Wednesday this year, the NFL has decided to schedule two intriguing games with potential massive playoff implications: the Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans.
Those two games will air on Netflix. But according to a report from Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, FOX has rejected Netflix’s request to have Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady call either of the Christmas Day Games:
“The Post has learned that one of the first moves Netflix tried to make for one of the broadcast teams was to utilize the top Fox Sports pairing of Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt. However, sources said that Fox rejected the request.”
Citing sources, Glasspiegel reports that Netflix is eyeing CBS play-by-play voice Ian Eagle, CBS analyst Nate Burleson, NBC’s Noah Eagle (Ian’s son) and FOX’s Greg Olsen to call the two Christmas games. CBS is producing the games fo Netflix.
Back with the Krewe on Sunday 🌴@TomBrady will be on the call with @NFLonFOX for Eagles-Bucs. 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/Y7rkOZblzy
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 24, 2024
Brady and Burkhardt called the first three Dallas Cowboys’ games of the 2024 season: Week 1 at the Cleveland Browns, Week 2 vs. the New Orleans Saints and Week 3 vs. the Baltimore Ravens.
The new duo will call Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 11, which will take place inside the Saints’ home venue, the Caesars Superdome.
Tom Brady Returns To Tampa Bay For Week 4
The NFL icon will return to a familiar place this Sunday, as Brady and Burkhardt will be on the call for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ home tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium.
Brady, of course, quarterbacked the Bucs from 2020 to 2022 and led them to a Super Bowl 55 championship plus two NFC South division titles. Now for the first time, he gets to analyze his former team in the broadcast booth.
