ESPN's Chris Fowler 'could move to Fox' when his contract expires in early 2023

Chris Fowler, one of the longest-tenured hosts in ESPN history, could be on the verge of leaving the 'Worldwide Leader' when his contract with Disney expires in early 2023.

Front Office Sports is reporting that the 60-year-old is the final months of the nine-year extension he signed with the Disney-owned ESPN in early 2014. Fowler is best known for covering college football and tennis, both as a play-by-play commentator and studio host.

He and on-air partner Kirk Herbstreit have called eight College Football Playoff championships together, and he's also teamed with tennis legends like Chris Evert and John McEnroe for coverage of the US and Australian Opens, as well as Wimbledon.

Fowler's contract expires at a precarious time for ESPN, which has reportedly doled out lucrative deals to several of the network's top talents: Monday Night Football's Troy Aikman ($18 million a year) and Joe Buck ($15 million), as well First Take's Stephen A. Smith ($12 million).

Chris Fowler, one of the longest-tenured hosts in ESPN history, could be on the verge of leaving the 'Worldwide Leader' when his contract with Disney expires in early 2023

He and on-air partner Kirk Herbstreit have called eight College Football Playoff championships together, and he's also teamed with tennis legends like Chris Evert and John McEnroe (left) for coverage of the US and Australian Opens, as well as Wimbledon

ESPN lured Fox's Troy Aikman (left) and Joe Buck (right) to cover Monday Night Football

ESPN has been tougher in negotiations with other hosts, FOS reports, so it's unclear if they will stand by Fowler, a 35-year network employee, or let him walk. Recently, in 2021, another ESPN college football host, Tom Rinaldi, signed with Fox Sports.

Author and ESPN profiler James Andrew Miller discussed the situation with Richard Deitsch on a recent podcast.

'I think Fowler will be a really interesting case study to follow,' said Miller, who about the network in his 2011 book, 'Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN.'

'Because he's not at the crazy 15-plus [million] that Aikman and Buck are,' Miller continued. 'He's not in Stephen A. territory. But he's a guy who makes a really, really good living, and deserves to make a good living. And let's see what ESPN's appetite for keeping Fowler is.

'There won't be anybody at ESPN who will say, 'We don't want to keep Chris Fowler.' But are there going to be people who are going to be, dare I say, audacious enough to say, 'We only want to keep Chris Fowler at a certain price'? To me that sounds crazy. But let's see how far this discipline of theirs extends. … They could cross their hands and say, 'Where else are you going to get tennis? We basically own tennis.'

Stephen A. Smith is reportedly making $12 million annually for his various roles at ESPN