ESPN Blocked FS1’s Attempt to Hire Damien Woody for New Show, per Report
ESPN reportedly has no plans of losing NFL analyst Damien Woody to a competing network, according to The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand.
Woody, who has one year left on his contract with ESPN, was approached by FOX as the company had plans to pair Woody with Craig Carton on Carton’s upcoming new television show on Fox Sports 1, per The Post. However, with Woody having the lone year remaining, ESPN was able to curve FOX’s move.
Carton has already signed a contract with FOX Sports for the new program, per The Post. While FOX had not made an official offer to Woody, the network planned to move fast in hopes of signing the 44-year-old.
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FOX was attempting to add new faces to its network after former play-by-play announcer Joe Buck left the company to join ESPN on a five-year, $75 million contract to call the company’s Monday Night Football games with Troy Aikman, who also recently left FOX.
While the company has been successful in previous years in acquiring former ESPN talent—including Tom Rinaldi, Emmanuel Acho, Jonathan Vilma and Adam Amin. ESPN plans for Woody to remain with the company, Marchand says.
Woody played for the Jets, Patriots, Lions in the NFL from 1999 to 2010. He has worked at ESPN for 11 years, appearing on ESPN’s First Take, Get Up! and SportsCenter.
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