awfulannouncing
Paul Finebaum, the veteran college football analyst and radio personality, remains under contract with ESPN through the current college football season, but he is not certain about what lies ahead. His deal is scheduled to expire next summer, and Finebaum recently addressed the uncertainty during an appearance on the Awful Announcing Podcast.
During the podcast, Finebaum confirmed that ESPN had pulled him from its programming last year after he told Clay Travis of OutKick that he was contemplating a Republican run for the U.S. Senate. At the time, ESPN denied that Finebaum was being sidelined. However, a year later, Finebaum characterized the move as intentional.
"Of course, I was sidelined," Finebaum said on the podcast. "I'd done the same shows every day for 13 years, and the next thing you know, I'm not on there after a college football weekend."
Finebaum eventually returned to his regular ESPN shows and chose not to pursue a political career. Now, with his contract set to expire next summer, questions about his future at the network have resurfaced.
Finebaum expressed that he feels positive about his current relationship with ESPN, but he stopped short of saying a new deal is imminent. "I don't know yet," he admitted when asked if he wanted to remain at ESPN beyond this college football season. "The contract technically runs out in July, but I'm a college football analyst. So at the end of January, I will probably start contemplating exactly what is next. But I would be foolish to tell you anybody who is in the last year of a contract doesn't think about it. Troy Aikman thinks about it, so does everyone else. But I would also be foolish to tell you I know what I'm going to do next."
He continued, "I intend to continue doing what I'm doing, which is doing a show of some sort, but I don't know how it will be constructed. These are always awkward situations that are probably best not discussed in the public airwaves, but then again, here we are."
Finebaum has been with ESPN since 2013 and told Awful Announcing that he is not sure the company fully realized what they were getting with his radio show. "I don't think very many people at ESPN had ever listened to the show," he said. Even so, ESPN has been satisfied enough with the product to maintain the partnership for more than a decade.
Aside from last year's sidelining, Finebaum's relationship with ESPN has been largely successful. He played a key role in building SEC Nation, remains a lead voice on college football for Get Up and First Take, and his radio show, simulcast on SEC Network, is one of the most popular in the country.
If Finebaum is interested in staying with ESPN, the interest should be mutual.
Originally reported by awfulannouncing.