The NFL is not concerned with the bubbling drama between ESPN "Monday Night Football" announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Aikman and Buck got into a disagreement prior to the Oct. 12 "MNF" game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams regarding Buck's recent contract extension with ESPN, according to Front Office Sports. Aikman remains unsigned beyond the Super Bowl on Feb. 14, 2027, which is ESPN's first-ever Super Bowl and the first on ABC in 20 years. Aikman essentially confirmed the argument during an interview on a local Dallas radio station last week and said he looks forward to being a broadcasting free agent after the season.
Buck and Aikman did not address the situation publicly before they called the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 19.
"No concern," NFL executive vice president for media distribution and chief media officer Hans Schroeder said Wednesday at the NFL's fall owners' meeting. "I don’t know if you watched the game on Monday night, it was an incredible game, and incredible coverage by Joe and Troy, just like they always do."
Schroeder noted the other ways Disney, which owns ESPN, covered the game. Pat McAfee’s alt-cast debuted (for an NFL game), for example.
This will be the first Super Bowl that Buck and Aikman have called together since Super Bowl 54, which was the Kansas City Chiefs' first of three recent championships, in February 2020. They called six Super Bowls together at FOX and left the network for ESPN together before the 2022 season.
"Look, that’s something that we’re really not involved with," Schroeder said of monitoring broadcast partners' announcing teams. "I think the fans are deserving of first-class game production, which Joe and Troy have (done) going back to (2002) … a history of doing as well as anyone. And I think we’ll continue to see them do that as well as anyone.
"We’re incredibly excited about the year ahead and the Super Bowl and their coverage and getting them back."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why NFL has 'no concern' about Joe Buck, Troy Aikman ESPN contract drama