ESPN’s Joe Buck lands new job away from MNF after making feelings clear on ‘career highlight’

Joe Buck’s iconic voice will soon be heard beyond Monday Night Football.

The legendary sportscaster has served as the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s flagship NFL broadcast since 2022.

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He sits alongside three-time Super Bowl champion Troy Aikman in the booth each week, and the 2026 season will conclude with the pair calling Super Bowl LXI.

But before he arrives at SoFi Stadium next February, Buck is expected to head out on a solo venture.

According to Front Office Sports (FOS), he is closing in on a deal to host ESPN Jeopardy! this summer.

Joe Buck lands new job away from MNF

The program will be a sports offshoot of the iconic game show, and Ryan Glasspiegel of FOS reports that it’s expected to have celebrity contestants, rather than drawing from the general population.

‘Multiple’ ESPN talents are believed to be participating.

“Sony owns and produces Jeopardy! and has been looking for ways to expand the franchise,” Glasspiegel wrote Tuesday.

“This will not be the first time the Jeopardy! franchise has had an offshoot dedicated to sports trivia.

“Sports Jeopardy! previously aired on Crackle from 2014 through 2016, and was hosted by Dan Patrick.”

Glasspiegel’s report adds that ESPN’s show is expected to air on Hulu and Disney+, and may also run on linear TV on ABC, as well as ESPN’s streaming platforms.

Has Joe Buck hosted Jeopardy! before?

The network’s decision to hand Buck the role would make sense, given he has previously guest-hosted a week of Jeopardy!

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That came in August 2021, after long-time host Alex Trebek’s death.

Trebek hosted Jeopardy! for close to four decades from 1984, up to his passing in November 2020.

Buck has previously spoken highly of his guest stint on the iconic show.

“It means a lot more now,” he said of the show, back in 2021, as his hosting duties concluded.

“Being in this studio, and being on this stage — for me, I was just a fan.

“I’m somebody that uses it as appointment television. It’s a way for me to see if any of my education from high school, or college, or conversations at parties stuck.

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“Now to be on the inside of it, see how it works, see the intensity of the game — I will go home with a new found appreciation for something I already appreciated.”

Joe Buck’s Jeopardy! stint was ‘career highlight’

He added that his mom was ‘excited’ to see him host the show in 2021, and compared the role to calling Super Bowls and the World Series.

“It’s something different for me,” Buck added.

“I’ve done Super Bowls, the World Series and US Opens, but to get to stand on the stage and host this show is really a career highlight.”

Five years on, and Buck could soon be back in the Jeopardy! studio for ESPN this summer.

It will then be full-speed ahead to his seventh Super Bowl call, when the NFL season kicks off in September and concludes in California.

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