ESPN CollegeGame Day keeps popular host with contract worth tens of millions

ESPN’s CollegeGame Day is keeping one of its most popular hosts after reports indicated he would bolt for Fox Sports.

The Athletic is reporting longtime host Rece Davis will stay with College GameDay through the 2031-2032 season. Davis, 59, has been with ESPN for three decades and the new seven-year deal is worth tens of millions of dollars, the report indicated. ESPN’s lineup includes Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and longtime University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban.

Davis is a native of Muscle Shoals and a 1988 graduate of the University of Alabama.

Exact terms of the deal haven’t been released.

Fox was wooing Davis as the replacement for “Big Noon Kickoff” host Rob Stone, as well as upcoming duties with the Men’s World Cup in 2026 and college basketball.

Instead, Davis will continue on College GameDay as well as the College Football Playoff National Championship and the NFL Draft on ABC along with select play-by-play assignments for college football and basketball, according to ESPN. He also hosts the College Football Playoff Top 25 Ranking Show and the NBA Draft.