Erin Andrews will take over for Pam Oliver as Fox's No. 1 NFL sideline reporter for this upcoming season, with the veteran reporter relegated to the No. 2 team.
Oliver told Sports Illustrated that she will only be on the sideline for the next season, and then she will no longer be there at all.
"To go from the lead crew to no crew was a little shocking," Oliver admitted. "I said I wanted to do a 20th year [on the sidelines]. I expressed to them that I was not done and had something to offer."
Fox Sports executives spoke with her in person to let her know about the upcoming change and nothing she said was about to change their mind, though they did relent and let her have a single year more, this time working alongside John Lynch and Kevin Burkhardt.
An NFL reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, was rather cynical about the change. "She's not blonde, nor is she in the demographic," they said. "I'm not naive and I understand it's a business, but I think that Fox did not treat her as befits a woman who has been the female face of their sports operation for the past 19 years."
Though executives John Entz and Eric Shanks are pulling her from the sideline, Fox isn't looking to cut her loose, but rather have Oliver do "long-form pieces, specials, major interviews and some producing as well."
According to the Los Angeles Times, Andrews, who is 36, has been with Fox now for two years, who managed to steal her from her previous employer, ESPN.
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