ESPN Announces 2024 College Football Broadcasting Teams

As the effects of realignment are realized across various Power Five conferences and the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams, ESPN is prepared to bring fans comprehensive coverage of the upcoming college football season. With a roster featuring versatile commentators, insightful analysts and shrewd reporters, The Walt Disney Company’s ESPN and ABC networks will cover the new season from Week 0 until the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in January.

The company currently has media rights deals with the College Football Playoff, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference within the Power Five. ESPN also signed an eight-year media rights agreement with the NCAA earlier this year that includes domestic rights for coverage of FCS, Division II and Division III football championships.

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will return as the lead broadcast team calling Saturday Night Football matchups on ABC. Fowler and Herbstreit have worked together on college football coverage for the last 28 seasons, starting in 1996 on College GameDay, and have called 10 CFP National Championship games together. This will be the 11th year that Fowler and Herbstreit will work together in the Saturday Night Football broadcast window, Rowe is entering her 29th college football season for ESPN and ABC and recently won a Sports Emmy Award for her work last year. The trio makes its season debut on Saturday, Aug. 31 when Notre Dame faces Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. EST on ABC and ESPN+.

Sean McDonough returns as a play-by-play announcer for the upcoming season in addition to serving as the lead announcer for the NHL on ESPN. For the 2024 season, he will continue working with analyst Greg McElroy, who has appeared on programming for ESPN and SEC Network and currently hosts the Always College Football podcast from ESPN and Omaha Productions. Sideline reporter Molly McGrath returns to the announcing team for her fifth season in the role and recently signed a contract extension with ESPN.

Play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore, who recently became a commentator for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), will work with analyst Jesse Palmer and sideline reporter Katie George for the second consecutive season. Ahead of the new season, Palmer signed a contract extension with the network and is entering his 17th season with ESPN. George has continued demonstrating versatility at the network, covering the NBA, XFL, F1, NCAA volleyball and college football for her sixth year on the sidelines. These three announcing teams will rotate commentary duties for the new SEC on ABC property under the first season of a 10-year deal with The Walt Disney Company reportedly worth a collective $3 billion.

Several new broadcast teams are spotlighted within the ESPN/ABC Saturday lineup, including Mark Jones, Roddy Jones and Quint Kessenich working together for the first time. Louis Riddick is working with Bob Wischusen and Kris Budden throughout the college football season while also commentating select Monday Night Football games as well. Rules analyst Bill LeMonnier and Matt Austin are returning to the network coverage as well on Saturday Night Football and on all ESPN platforms, including SEC games, respectively.

The lead SEC Network broadcast team of Tom Hart, Jordan Rogers and Cole Cubelic will work together for the eighth consecutive season. Meanwhile, the ACC Network will introduce a new trio of play-by-play announcer Wes Durham, analyst Tom Luginbill and reporter Dana Boyle for ACC Primetime Football games. Marc Kestecher will continue calling college football games on ESPN Radio this season with analyst Kelly Stouffer and reporter Ian Fitzsimmons. The national radio platform will also include Mike Couzens delivering play-by-play announcing with two-time Super Bowl champion and Florida alumnus Max Starks providing analysis.

A full list of broadcasting teams can be found below:

Some of the additional announcers returning and/or joining coverage this fall include:

The following ESPN commentators signed new contracts with the company ahead of the new season:

BSM Staff