There will be no outdated animated rabbit, or other cartoon animal, to move from Disney to Fox in order to seal the Joe Buck deal.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Fox has allowed Buck to leave for ESPN in exchange for dibs on an early-season Big Ten college football game in 2022. The two networks currently share the package.
Buck joined Fox in 1994, when he was only 25. Per Marchand, Fox tried to keep Buck with an offer in the range of $12 million per year. At ESPN, he’ll earn an annual salary in the range of $12 million to $15 million.
Buck had one year left on his deal with Fox. It made more sense for him to go now, if he were going to leave in a year, anyway. Fox could have played hardball, but that would have been in no one’s best interests. Once Buck decided he wanted to make the move to ESPN, there was no reason to force him to serve out a lame-duck season.
