Behind the Mic: ESPN Secures Jon Gruden for MNF Through 2021; Fox Snaps Up Alexi Lalas for Soccer Coverage

Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden has agreed to an extension with ESPN that will keep him on  out of coaching through the remainder of the company’s current NFL rights agreement, the 2021 NFL season. Since joining ESPN in May 2009, Gruden has teamed with play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and earned four Sports Emmy Award nominations in the Best Analyst. Additionally, the former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach and Super Bowl winner has been widely praised for his groundbreaking SportsCenter Special: Gruden’s QB Camp series which has become a popular element of ESPN’s annual coverage in the lead-up to NFL Draft. Gruden has also contributed to ESPN’s NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage, major college football bowl games and other platforms. Next month, he will be part of the MNF team that calls ESPN’s first-ever NFL Playoff game, as well as the NFL Pro Bowl (Jan. 25)…

…With rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and FIFA World Cup in 2018, Fox Sports has added National Soccer Hall of Fame and former ESPN soccer analyst Alexi Lalas FOX Sports as a studio and game analyst. Lalas joins FOX Sports from ESPN, where he was the lead studio analyst for the network’s coverage of the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. He also provided analysis on Major League Soccer, USMNT Team matches and international soccer events including the UEFA European Championships and FIFA Confederations Cups. Best known as a standout defender on the U.S. Men’s National Team during the 1994 World Cup, Lalas joins host Rob Stone, Warren Barton and former USMNT teammates Eric Wynalda and recently-added Brad Friedel as key members of FOX Sports’ soccer team.  He is also set to contribute to FOX Sports’ coverage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, England’s FA Cup, Major League Soccer, USMNT matches, UEFA European Championship Qualifiers…

…FOX Sports has also added star international goalkeeper Brad Friedel as a studio and game analyst. Friedel, an Ohio native, is currently a goalkeeper for Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur, and is a club Ambassador in the US. He is expected to contribute to FOX Sports’ coverage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and England’s FA Cup, followed by Major League Soccer, USMNT matches and FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015.  Friedel previously contributed to Fox’s coverage of the 2012 and 2013 UEFA Champions League Finals. He was also a studio analyst for BBC’s 2014 World Cup coverage in Brazil. Friedel played 82 games for the USMNT from 1992 to 2005 and represented his country at three FIFA World Cups…

…NBC Sports Group has added reporter Rutledge Wood to its multiplatform coverage of NASCAR, Formula 1, IndyCar, Global Rallycross and Mecum Auctions. Among his contributions, Wood will present features on the NASCAR’s storied raceways, unique towns and enthusiastic fans. The appointment of Wood follows previous. Wood’s previously traveled with the NASCAR circuit for Country Music Television’s mobile marketing activation.  Soon after, he was hired by SPEED, where he has worked continuously for the past 10 seasons covering NASCAR.  Wood most recently was a correspondent for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pre-race show, NASCAR RaceDay, on Fox Sports 1, and has also hosted or co-hosted several NASCAR events, including the annual NASCAR Awards Banquet.  In addition, Wood has been the co-host of Top Gear on the History Channel, the American iteration of the BBC program of the same name, for the past four seasons. NBC Sports NASCAR on-air announcements for analysts Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Kyle Petty, race announcer Rick Allen, pre- and post-race host Krista Voda, and reporters Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Mike Massaro and Dave Burns…

…ESPN has announced the hiring of three additional editorial staff members — Mike Wise, Jerry Bembry, and Justin Tinsley – for Jason Whitlock’s upcoming site that will provide in-depth coverage, commentary and insight on race and culture through the lens of sports. Wise, an award-winning sports columnist and feature writer for the Washington Post, joins the site in a similar role to the one he has had with The Post for 11 years. Bembry, a former ESPN The Magazine senior writer and editor who has spent the past three years as a college professor at Morgan State University, rejoins the company as a senior writer with the Whitlock project. The work of urban culture and music writer Tinsley has been featured in a number of key print and digital outlets.

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