Richard Deitsch of SI.com reports that Fox Sports 1 is adding Andy Roddick to its roster. The former tennis star will be one of the hosts of Fox Sports Live, the new network’s version of SportsCenter.
From Deitsch:
The 30-year-old Roddick said he will appear on Fox Sports Live nightly between Monday and Friday, working either four or five nights depending on the week. Fox Sports executives initially contacted him a few weeks after he announced his retirement from tennis at the U.S. Open in August. Roddick told Fox Sports executives he was not looking for a full-time job in television, but the two sides stayed in touch throughout the next couple of months, as Fox Sports executives told Roddick their vision for a competitor to ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“Throughout the interview process I was very honest,” Roddick said. “I was the way I have always been: pretty direct and pretty opinionated. I think that’s what they were looking for. I don’t know if they were looking for a typical, run-of-the-mill type of show or someone with fabricated opinions.”
The interview process heated up a couple of months ago as Roddick embarked on three in-person interviews with Fox Sports executives in Los Angeles and multiple phone interviews.
“It started with gauging interest on both sides and I don’t know that I was in a hurry to rush into anything that wasn’t a perfect opportunity in my mind,” Roddick said. “It was a fascinating process for me. I really haven’t had to earn my keep in a given job since I was 18 years old. Getting the gig is a start, but I am certainly prepared to put the work in and learn about this side of it, and try to prove my worth to the guys taking a shot with me.”
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Paul Finebaum might not be a nationwide personality, but few are bigger than him in the Southeast. The long-time Birmingham columnist and sports talk show host gets them fired up in SEC country.
Now Finebaum will his national platform. From the Wall Street Journal:
Finebaum, the polarizing personality of college football’s signature call-in show, is leaving the Birmingham, Ala., market where his contract expired in January, for Charlotte, N.C., and a national forum: ESPN. His multi-tiered platform will include a radio program on ESPN networks, 100 televised appearances annually on ESPN and a TV simulcast of his radio show on the ESPN-owned SEC Network launching in August 2014.
“It would be the understatement of my life to say I wasn’t thrilled,” Finebaum said. “It is incredibly exciting to be part of a new adventure, particularly one that involves the premiere brand in sports along with the pre-eminent conference in sports.” Finebaum has a five-year contract. Neither he nor ESPN would give financial details.