Rece Davis gets big-money deal to stay at ESPN after Fox pursuit

The transfer portal isn’t just a threat to college sports programs.It’s also impacting broadcasters. As The Athletic first reported, Fox Sports attempted to swipe ESPN’s Rece Davis from “College GameDay” for its own “Big Noon Kickoff,” but Davis will be staying in Bristol.The interest from Fox, according to the report, resulted in a new seven-year contract for Davis at ESPN.The deal is said to be worth “tens of millions of dollars,” the report said. Davis will also host the College Football Playoffs on the network for the duration of ESPN’s current deal, which goes through 2031-32.The versatile 59-year-old Davis also covers basketball at ESPN and is just one of the broadcasters to draw interest from other networks this offseason; Davis’ colleague at ESPN, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, was on CBS’ radar to host a college football program, but Orlovsky is also staying at ESPN for now, the Athletic reported. Fox previously hired reporter Tom Rinaldi and researcher Chris Fallica away from ESPN.  ...