ESPN’s No. 2 NFL booth will look different in 2026. Here’s why
· Yahoo Sports
Some NFL games that appear on ESPN properties, which also includes contests originally slotted for NFL Network after the merger between the two companies earlier this year, will look – and sound – different in 2026.
The Athletic reported Thursday that the ESPN No. 2 NFL booth of Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Dan Orlvosky (analyst) and Louis Riddick (analyst) will not be back for the 2026 season. The trio called a handful of NFL games together each season for the past three years.
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ESPN declined to comment to USA TODAY Sports.
ESPN officially took over NFL Network as part of a 10 percent equity stake in ESPN this week. And the main reason for the No. 2 booth change are the scheduling challenges presented should the secondary team be responsible for calling international games. The bulk of NFL Network’s contests, now part of ESPN’s production, were overseas. That would obviously affect the availability of Fowler, who calls the top college game for the network every Saturday in the fall and is a fixture of ESPN's tennis coverage, including the U.S. Open in the fall. Orlvosky’s ubiquitous studio work would also be impacted.
ESPN is still wrapping its arms around the NFL Network acquisition and must develop plans for long-term cooperation. Clarity on the broadcasting teams and roles will be better defined once the NFL releases the 2026 schedule in May and network assignments are doled out. Riddick, Orlovsky and Fowler could find themselves calling late-season doubleheaders on a December Saturday – essentially three games in one weekend for ESPN – for example. The odds of it being the three of them together are slim, however.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will remain on ESPN’s “A” games and will call Super Bowl 61, the first “big game” ever for ESPN.
According to The Athletic, potential play-by-play candidates include Matt Monaco, Dave Pasch and Bob Wischusen, with others perhaps finding themselves in the mix for the No. 2 main mic.
ESPN could take a big swing in the analyst’s chair – Jason Kelce is in the mix, according to The Athletic. Kurt Warner would be the logical choice, given his experience calling games alongside Rich Eisen, who has been back in the ESPN family since last fall.
Kelce works as an analyst for “Monday Night Countdown” and joined the Buck-Aikman booth in Philadelphia during the third quarter of a Week 2 game of the 2024 season.
“When you’re doing that live, in the moment, in real time, it’s difficult,” Kelce said after the experience.
ESPN vice president of production Seth Markman told USA TODAY Sports in 2024 that Kelce had interest in calling games in the future.
“I think we’ve made a concerted effort to say ‘This is our number one property, this is ‘Monday Night Football,’ and we’re going to put the biggest and best names on this property,” Markman said at the time.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ESPN changing NFL booth of Dan Orlovsky, Chris Fowler, per report