Joe Buck landed a Dancing with the Stars judging role for a Super Bowl themed night after ESPN reportedly signed him to a six-year, $108 million deal worth about $18 million annually
Joe Buck attends the FOX Upfront
Joe Buck will be a guest judge for Dancing with the Stars on Super Bowl night
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Monday Night Football mainstay and Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Buck is stepping out of the broadcast booth and straight into the ballroom to judge a new kind of footwork far from what NFL fans see from Justin Jefferson and Amon-Ra St. Brown each week.
Buck will guest judge Dancing with the Stars for its first-ever Super Bowl Night on Tuesday, October 13. He joins Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli as the remaining couples channel halftime-show legends with their routines.
The crossover comes just weeks after ESPN reportedly locked Buck into a six-year, $108 million extension. The $18 million-a-year deal keeps the 57-year-old in the Monday Night Football chair well into the next decade.
That contract also sets Buck up to call ESPN's first Super Bowl in February 2027 at SoFi Stadium, keeping him in place for the network's 2031 game.
The themed episode airs four months before Super Bowl LXI and will feature 11 remaining couples dancing to music from halftime performers, including Shakira, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Kendrick Lamar.
Eleven dancing couples remain in the competition after Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong were eliminated last Tuesday during a Mariah Carey-themed episode.
Irish Love Island star Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas earned the season's first 9 from Inaba during the episode for their Waltz to If It's Over — Carey's 1996 MTV Unplugged record.
Buck isn't new to entertainment television and previously hosted ESPN Jeopardy!, where reviews said he "exceeded expectations." The show is being renewed for a second season after Buck guest-hosted during trials to replace Alex Trebek.
ESPN journalist Jeremy Schaap won the first season, which featured Kimberley Martin, Domonique Foxworth, Christine Williamson, MJ Acosta-Ruiz, Manti Te'o, and more.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman call NFL action
Buck has called Monday Night Football since 2022(Image: Getty Images)
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The ESPN voice moved to the company from Fox in 2022 alongside Troy Aikman after decades of calling NFL games and World Series broadcasts.
The move is even more notable because Buck secured his future at ESPN before Aikman, catching him off guard. The pair are in their 25th season together, but Aikman's current five-year deal runs through Super Bowl LX.
Reports suggest that Aikman has not yet agreed to an extension and could wait until the network's 2027 Super Bowl broadcast.
Buck recently joked about his place inside ESPN when former Monday Night Football voice Mike Tirico attended the Falcons-Saints game in New Orleans.
Seeing ESPN employees swarm Tirico with hugs, Buck joked that following him on the platform was a good way to “feel irrelevant.”