Rece Davis Reportedly Signs New ESPN Contract Worth 'Tens of Millions' amid Fox Buzz

Fox Sports reportedly made an "all-out effort" to pry College GameDay host Rece Davis away from ESPN, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, but Davis is staying up.

Per that report, "Davis has agreed to a new seven-year deal for tens of millions of dollars, according to sources briefed on the deal. The exact terms are unknown, but Davis accepted a slight hometown discount to remain at ESPN that will guarantee him lead hosting duties through the rest of the network’s College Football Playoff deal that runs until 2031-32."

Fox planned on making Davis the host of Big Noon Kickoff and "one of the faces of its networks" before he made the decision to remain at ESPN, according to Marchand's report. He would have also hosted the 2026 World Cup and taken part in college basketball broadcasts.

The 59-year-old has been with ESPN for the past three decades and stayed out of what has been a whirlwind of media changes and failed overtures in college football broadcasting of late.

CBS plans to move Charles Davis from the NFL to Big Ten broadcasts, replacing longtime analyst Gary Danielson, who will broadcast one final season in 2025. Marchand reported that CBS attempted to lure NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky away from ESPN, though he rejected the approach despite currently not having a new deal in place with ESPN.

Fox previously pried Tom Rinaldi and Fallica away from College GameDay but lost out to ESPN in the chase for Nick Saban after he retired from coaching.

College GameDay seemingly has the edge on Big Noon Kickoff in the ratings department.

In November, Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News reported that "GameDay is averaging 2.2 million viewers, according to ESPN—an eight percent year-over-year increase that puts the show on pace for its best season ever. (The first on-campus broadcast was in 1993). Fox doesn’t typically release ratings for Big Noon Kickoff, which is, well, telling."