Joe Buck

Joe Buck has been a fixture in broadcasting since 1989, when his career began while he was an undergraduate at Indiana University [4] [5]. He is known for calling NFL and baseball games for Fox [3] [2], and since 2022 he has called Monday Night Football for ESPN [4]. In September 2026 a report said ESPN had agreed a new six-year deal with him, but the network has not confirmed the terms [6].

Cardinals broadcasts, then Fox

Buck's broadcasting path ran alongside his father's. Jack Buck was a legendary St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster, and he also called professional football and baseball games [8] [3]. Joe Buck was part of the Cardinals' broadcasts from 1991 to 2007 [2].

His national break came in 1994, when he joined Fox Sports as an NFL play-by-play announcer [1]. He became the lead play-by-play announcer on Fox's national MLB coverage [2], and by 2002 he was the lead NFL voice on Fox [5].

The scale of that work is easiest to see in the numbers. The Pro Football Hall of Fame says he has called six Super Bowls [3]. The ESPN biography credits him with calling 24 World Series [4]. The National Baseball Hall of Fame says he has called more World Series and All-Star Games on network television than any play-by-play announcer in history [1].

His play-by-play work has also brought awards. The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame inducted him in 2022 [5]. It credits him with a record-tying eight Sports Emmy Awards for play-by-play [5] [4]. A 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame release gave his total Emmy count as seven at that time [3].

Monday Night Football and the move to ESPN

The move to ESPN was first reported as a plan. In March 2022, TVLine reported, citing Page Six, that Fox was reportedly releasing him from his contract about a year early and that he was setting up a position at ESPN, where he was expected to join Troy Aikman in calling Monday Night Football [7]. TVLine said it had reached out to Fox Sports and ESPN for comment. The article reports no response from either network [7].

The ESPN biography describes the signing. In March 2022 ESPN signed Buck, along with Troy Aikman, to a multi-year deal, making him the new play-by-play announcer of Monday Night Football [4]. The 2022 report also put his expected pay at roughly five years and more than $60 million. That figure was Page Six's reporting, as TVLine relayed it [7].

His ESPN work is not limited to football. The National Baseball Hall of Fame says he returned to the baseball booth in 2025 for ESPN's Opening Day broadcast [1].

Two Hall of Fame honors

The Pro Football Hall of Fame named Buck the 2020 winner of its Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which it presents each year “in recognition of longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football” [3]. The honor was revealed at halftime of the Bengals-Browns game, played on the NFL's centennial, in September 2020 [3]. Buck and his father are the first father and son to receive it [3].

The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced on 10 December 2025 that Buck would receive the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting [1]. He earned the highest point total in a vote by the Hall's 16-member Frick Award Committee, from a field of ten finalists [1]. His father, Jack Buck, won the same award in 1987, which makes the two the only father and son to have won it [1]. The Hall said he would be honored during Hall of Fame Weekend, July 24-27, 2026 [1].

The September 2026 contract report

On 16 September 2026, Cox Media Group's national content desk published a report, citing The Athletic, that Buck had agreed to a six-year extension worth about $108 million [6]. He had been in the final season of a five-year, $75 million deal, and sources said his pay would rise to about $18 million a year [6]. The report said the extension would let him call ESPN's first Super Bowl, in February, and its second, in 2031 [6].

ESPN has not confirmed the figures. Its executive vice president of communications, Josh Krulewitz, said the network would not discuss talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl [6]. The same report says Troy Aikman remains unsigned, and that Aikman is in the final season of a five-year, $90 million deal [6].