Chris Fowler is the New Lead ESPN College Football Voice

Well, once the dominoes starting falling, this was the logical conclusion. After ESPN announced Brent Musburger was being pushed moved to the SEC Network following several years as the lead college football play-by-play voice, the Alleged Worldwide Leader has announced to the world today that College GameDay host Chris Fowler will be the new lead announcer. He’ll be teamed with his GameDay co-hort Kirk Herbstreit in the Saturday Night Football booth and they’ll call two games of the new College Football Playoff (semifinal and Championship Game).

ESPN made the move as both Musburger’s and Fowler’s contracts were expiring this year. In order to keep Fowler who has been with the company since 1986, it knew he had coveted a play-by-play spot and it was the logical progression. The only question was where would ESPN put him?

The network has several qualified college football announcers including Brad Nessler, Joe Tessitore, Sean McDonough and Rece Davis to name a few. But knowing that Fowler has been loyal to the company, ESPN kept him in the fold by signing him to a new nine-year extension that keeps him with Bristol until 2023.

His new duties will the college football play-by-play. He’ll continue to call tennis and the Grand Slams in the ESPN portfolio, particularly the finals of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open when ESPN takes over that contract in 2015.

The interesting part of the deal is that Fowler will continue as host of College GameDay. When it was speculated about Fowler replacing Musburger, it was thought that Fowler would give up College GameDay, but he’ll remain as host, a position he has held since 1990.

So Fowler and Herbstreit will be on both GameDay and Saturday Night Football making a long day for both of them, but for the most part, they’ll be at the site of the Saturday Night Football game so they won’t have to travel much.

Here’s the official announcement.

ESPN Colllege FootballChris Fowler Signs Extension with ESPN Through 2023

Chris Fowler - US Open - August 28, 2012Versatile Commentator to Call Saturday Night Football & New College Football Playoff Games; Continues on GameDay & Marquee Tennis Events

Multisport commentator Chris Fowler – widely regarded as one of the most versatile and talented announcers in television – will remain with ESPN as a lead voice on many of the network’s marquee events, primarily college football and tennis Majors, through 2023.

Fowler, who called ESPN’s Thursday night college football series from 2006 to 2009, will return to the college football booth as part of the nine-year extension, working play-by-play on the weekly Saturday Night Football series on ABC with analyst Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Heather Cox. Fowler, Herbstreit, who have worked together on ESPN’s College GameDay since 1996, and Cox will also usher in the new era in college football, teaming up to work a College Football Playoff Semifinal game and the College Football National Championship. He will continue to host College GameDay, a position he has held since 1990.

He will also remain an integral part of ESPN’s tennis coverage, highlighted by the four Majors — Wimbledon, US Open, French Open and Australian Open — where he hosts and calls matches. These include championships from Australia, Wimbledon and, beginning with ESPN’s exclusive coverage in 2015, the US Open.

“Chris Fowler is a one-of-a-kind talent who brings an amazing work ethic to every project he works on,” said John Wildhack, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Production. “His ability to skillfully document some of the world’s most popular sporting events continues to impress sports fans year after year and his love for college football is on full display every week on GameDay. Chris will bring the same great qualities to the Saturday Night Football stage and new College Football Playoff, joining his long-time colleague Kirk Herbstreit and respected reporter Heather Cox.”

Fowler joined ESPN in July 1986 as the first host/reporter of Scholastic Sports America for two years. Over the years, he has also hosted the network’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup soccer, SportsCenter, SportsCentury, horse racing’s Triple Crown races, men’s college basketball including on-site Final Four coverage and the first few editions of the X Games and Winter X Games.

“I am very excited about hosting GameDay for a 25th year and extending my work with Kirk Herbstreit for a 19th season and beyond,” said Fowler. “There is a strong legacy of top college football voices on ABC, from Chris Schenkel to Keith Jackson to Brent Musburger. I’m looking forward to returning to the booth and being a part of that incredible tradition. As for tennis, I can’t wait to continue and expand my role in ESPN’s industry-leading coverage.”

In addition to College GameDay, a three-time Emmy-winning Saturday morning college football preview show that originates from one of the day’s major games, Fowler has hosted ESPN’s Heisman Trophy Presentation since 1994 and ESPN’s The Home Depot College Football Awards show since its inception in 1993. He was the play-by-play voice of ESPN’s Thursday College Football Primetime games from 2006-2009 and previously had been a sideline reporter, beginning in 1988.

Fowler also served as a host for ESPN’s month-long, on-site studio coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup from South Africa, where he anchored pre-, halftime and post-match shows, along with SportsCenter, for the FIFA World Cup segments.

Fowler hosted ESPN’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four coverage (1992-2005) and was a host on select editions of the inaugural season of the college basketball version of College GameDay in 2005. From 1998-2007, Fowler added horse racing to his resume, serving as an on-site host for ESPN & ESPN2’s extensive Triple Crown coverage (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes). He served as the host of SportsCenter’s on-site coverage of top auto racing events, including the Daytona 500 in 2006 and 2007. In the past, Fowler anchored SportsCenter and served as co-host of the X Games from its inception in 1995-2000, as well as the Winter X Games (1998-2000). He also received two Emmy Awards for his work as host and narrator of the celebrated SportsCentury series.

That will do it.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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