ESPN’s Holly Rowe has reupped with the network as she faces another battle with cancer. In other news, ESPN’s Lee Corso is staying put according to one of his colleagues, and Fox Sports is taking TNT’s Players Only idea to NASCAR.
Rowe, Facing Recurrence of Cancer, Staying With ESPN
- ESPN reporter Holly Rowe told The Associated Press Thursday that her cancer has returned and spread and she will undergo a CAT scan on Monday. The announcement came on the same day that ESPN announced a contract extension with Rowe, who has been with the company since 1996. Her contract had been up last month and she initially worried she would be part of ESPN’s layoffs, which would have jeopardized her health insurance. [AP 5.19]
Corso Gets Contract Extension, Says Herbstreit
- ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso has reached a two-year contract extension with the company, colleague Kirk Herbstreit said at a fundraiser this week. Corso joined ESPN in 1987 and has been part of the College Gameday team since the show debuted that same year. [Louisville Courier-Journal 5.17 via Sports Business Daily 5.17]
FOX to Debut NASCAR “Drivers Only” Coverage
- Fox Sports announced Friday that active NASCAR Cup Series drivers will make up the broadcast team for next month’s Xfinity Series race at Pocono. Kevin Harvick will serve as the lap-by-lap announcer alongside analysts Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer, Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin will handle studio coverage, and Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Erik Jones will work the pits. The endeavor, titled Drivers Only, comes on the heels of TNT’s Players Only NBA coverage, which consisted of former players in all on-air roles. In a Friday press release, Fox called Drivers Only “an unprecedented move in national sports broadcasting,” evidently distinguishing its use of active drivers from TNT’s use of mostly retired players. [Fox Sports]
