Troy Aikman will call ESPN’s first Super Bowl in February and then, by his own account, become a free agent. His broadcast partner of 25 years, Joe Buck, signed through 2031 last month.
Every account of the rift frames it as a pay gap: Buck got more than $100 million, Aikman got nothing. The reported numbers say something different.
Buck’s new deal is about $108 million over six years. That is $18 million a year, up from the $15 million he had been earning.
Aikman is finishing a five-year, $90 million contract, according to reporting on the split. That is also $18 million a year.
Per year, they are now level. Until September, Aikman was the better paid of the two by $3 million. ESPN has not confirmed any of these figures, so treat them as reported rather than certain.
What separates them is time. Buck is covered into 2031. Aikman is covered for the rest of this one.
“I’ll broadcast through this season, and I’ll be a free agent at the end of the year and kind of see what happens.”
Aikman said that on Dallas radio, and the Chicago Sun-Times carried it. He also referred to a “next landing spot.”
The tension surfaced on Oct. 12. Front Office Sports reported that the two argued before the Monday Night Football game between the Rams and Bills at SoFi Stadium, that Buck was the one who “broke the ice,” and that it cooled down before air. ESPN declined to comment.
Asked about it later, Aikman said there is “probably a time and a place for all that to be discussed.” Viewers noticed nothing wrong on the broadcast. That is the job.
The 2022 order matters here. When ESPN lured the pair from Fox, Aikman signed first and Buck followed weeks later. This time the network signed the play-by-play voice a month ago and left the analyst’s clock running into the biggest game it has ever broadcast.
Buck has said he hopes Aikman stays. He did not make ESPN’s decision and cannot reverse it. The two use different agents at CAA, so neither negotiates for the other.
When Buck’s extension came out, ESPN said its “entire focus is on bringing fans the best possible football coverage, culminating with our first Super Bowl.” The statement named the Super Bowl and said nothing about the man who will analyze it.
We think the pay-gap story serves ESPN. It turns a decision into a feud between two old friends and a question of who earns what. Nobody has to ask why a network that wants its top booth intact would lock in one chair for six years and leave the other open.
There are only two honest readings. Either ESPN means to keep Aikman and is saving money by waiting, or it is not sure it wants him and has chosen not to say so. A month of silence reads more like the second.
Waiting costs ESPN something too. Replacement names are already circulating. The Deseret News lists Greg Olsen, Kirk Herbstreit, Jason Kelce and Pat McAfee, which means the market is planning around a booth without him.
ESPN should settle this before the Super Bowl, not after it. Either make the offer or say plainly that it will not. A network that gets the camera on the field every week can tell a 25-year partnership where it stands.