Joe Buck will call Super Bowl LXI with Troy Aikman at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Getty Images
**Joe Buck**’s current ESPN contract concludes at the end of this coming NFL season, but he’s very clear on where he wants to ply his trade for the rest of his career.
“If you reached through my computer screen right now and handed me a contract to continue my time at ESPN, I would sign it without even looking at it,” Buck said. “I’ve loved every second of it and I am hopeful that I’m at ESPN for the rest of my career. That’s as plain as I can say it and as honest as I can say it and maybe it’s stupid of me to say. If something gets thrown at me and I have to shift, I’ll shift. But I would be hopeful to stay right where I am until I’m finished.”
Buck said there have been no formal talks -- he is represented by CAA’s **Tom Young** -- but the broadcaster, who signed a five-year deal with ESPN in 2022, said he believes both sides are happy and no one has “given anybody any pause in continuing our relationship.” He spoke on this, among many subjects, as part of a 40-minute conversation that will be published Saturday on the “[Sports Media with Richard Deitsch](https://swap.fm/l/4apy5A6FmakGYZa2Tfop)” podcast.
It’s obviously a big year for Buck and “Monday Night Football” partner **Troy Aikman** -- and the whole ESPN NFL group, really -- as ESPN declared in February that this year would be “The Year of the Super Bowl,” a 12-month, multi-platform celebration leading toward ESPN’s first-ever Super Bowl production in February 2027. Buck, Aikman, **Laura Rutledge** and **Lisa Salters** will be on that call.
“This is a big thing for ESPN and ABC, and I don’t think that’s something that we should scoff at,” Buck said. ”I think it’s something that should be celebrated. I love being at a place that holds this thing up. Like this is our chance. That’s a great feeling as an announcer. … The buildup, I love. I don’t think it adds any pressure. It doesn’t add any pressure to me. It just means that the people that I work for are excited about it and that’s good.
“I did six of them and Fox had them multiple times. I don’t want to say it’s old hat, but bringing it to someplace that hasn’t had it and being a part of that was always kind of a carrot on the stick switching over. It was like you still get a Super Bowl. Well, now it’s here and I love that.”
Next week, Buck, who called 22 consecutive World Series for Fox and 24 in total for Fox, will return to calling baseball on Tuesday for a one-off broadcast of Dodgers-Mets in L.A. He will be joined in the booth by analysts **Ron Darling** and **Orel Hershiser** and reporter **Buster Olney** as part of ESPN’s exclusive, national presentation that will emanate from Dodger Stadium and celebrate Jackie Robinson Day.
Buck said ESPN SVP/Sports Production **Mark Gross** asked him which analysts he’d love to work with, and he mentioned Darling and Hershsier. ESPN then went about securing them for the game. Darling works regularly for SNY calling the Mets, while Hershiser calls Dodgers games for SportsNet LA.
“I have had so much fun working at ESPN,” Buck said. “For the people I work for -- and with the people I get to do games with.”