ESPN will not fill the vacancy left by Jason Witten on Monday Night Football. Also: Tennis Channel analyst Justin Gimelstob, Fox Sports has hired former Mets manager Terry Collins, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be part of NBC’s Kentucky Derby coverage.
ESPN going with Tessitore and McFarland in MNF booth
ESPN announced Wednesday that the returning Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland will work in a two-man Monday Night Football booth this season. The network elected not to replace Jason Witten, who abruptly returned to the playing field in February after one largely-panned season as an analyst.
Author Jim Miller and the New York Post previously reported that ESPN would go with a Tessitore-McFarland booth if it failed to lure former QB Peyton Manning. Manning turned ESPN down last month. [ESPN PR 5.1]
Gimelstob leaves Tennis Channel after plea
Tennis Channel analyst Justin Gimelstob has resigned from the network, according to The New York Times, just over a week after pleading no contest to felony battery for a Halloween assault of a friend of his ex-wife. Gimelstob, who joined Tennis Channel shortly after his 2007 retirement, had been on leave from the network since his November arrest. [The New York Times 5.1]
Former Mets manager joins Fox Sports
Former New York Mets manager Terry Collins has joined Fox Sports as a Major League Baseball studio analyst, it was announced Wednesday. Collins, who stepped down from the Mets in 2017, will make his debut on Thursday’s edition of MLB Whiparound on FS1. [Fox Sports 5.1]
Dale Jr. joining Kentucky Derby coverage
NBC Sports NASCAR analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. will contribute to Saturday’s Kentucky Derby coverage on NBC, it was announced Wednesday. Earnhardt Jr., who is attending the Derby for the first time, will join NASCAR colleague Rutledge Wood in covering the atmosphere surrounding the event. [NBC Sports PR 5.1]
