Bill Raftery moves to Fox while Kirk Herbstreit stays at ESPN

A couple of notable talent announcements came down this week as Fox Sports 1 signed color analyst Bill Raftery to a new deal for the Big EastConference. Meanwhile, ESPN's top college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit signed a new deal  to stay with the network through 2022.

As most of you know starting this season Fox Sports 1 will be the new home of the Big East and they have begun to make some key hires.  Fox Sports 1 is the  new national multi-sport channel launching on August 17^th.   

The Raftery move to Fox Sports 1 to join play by play man Gus Johnson as the lead broadcast team for the new Big East package makes a great deal of sense. The new allows Raftery to continue  his role as a lead analyst for men’s regular-season college basketball and NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament coverage on CBS.

 He is one of the most respected and entertaining analysts in the business. Raftery also has been involved with the Big East since it came into being in 1979. Over the years when I was a television director  I had the pleasure of working with  Raftery on a number of broadcasts. He is without question one of the most knowledgeable analysts in the broadcasting business in any sport as well as a very entertaining. He will be right at home staying with the Big East and working with Gus Johnson.

Yesterday he had this to say about joining Fox Sports 1:

“I was fortunate to work at ESPN since its inception, and I’ll be forever grateful to all the talented, professional people who supported me along the way. I leave with nothing but terrific memories and friendships,” said Raftery.  “Today, though, we turn the page.  I’ve been associated with the BIG EAST Conference since it began, and I feel the same excitement and anticipation now as I did way back then as the conference is re-born with FOX Sports.  I’m really looking forward to being reunited with my former CBS partner, Gus Johnson, whose style I love and passion for college basketball is unmatched.”

Over at ESPN they were making sure that their lead football analyst Kirk Herbstreit would remain at the network through 2022. Having joined ESPN lead play by play man Brent Musburger the duo called the past seven Rose Bowls and six BCS National Championships. It was announced that he will again be in the booth for this year’s edition of the Rose Bowl and the BCS Championship Game.

 It was also announced by the network that Herbstreit would be involved in the new College Football Playoff that commences in 2015, he will call one National Semifinal and the National Championship Game each year.

In addition, he will continue to make contributions to various shows including ESPN College GameDay, College Football Live and provide analysis across ESPN platforms such as SportsCenter, ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine.

New this fall, Herbstreit’s weekly Tuesday appearance on College Football Live will tap into his talk radio roots, pairing him with ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd (The Herd with Colin Cowherd, M-F 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.). The two will discuss the key issues of the day in college football.

Herbstreit had this to say about his new deal:

 “I’ve always felt that ESPN and ABC are the home of college football and even more so now that they have the College Football Playoff for 12 years. Considering the opportunities that lay ahead and the great people I get to work with every day, it was an easy decision to stay with the company that gave me my start.”