ESPN Talent is Going to Fox in Droves

Jonathan Vilma is the latest in what is emerging as a strong ESPN-to-Fox Sports pipeline, the New York Post's Andrew Marchand reports. Vilma, who appeared on ABC's college football studio show, was thought of highly internally and offered more money to stay put, but ultimately opted for perceived greener NFL analyst pastures. He will likely join Kenny Albert on fall Sundays, per the report.

Vilma is following an increasingly well-worn path. Emmanuel Acho and Adam Amin have hopped from ESPN to Fox in recent months and Will Cain is destined for Fox News. That's not just enough fodder for a trend piece. It's worth a follow-up on the trend piece.

Motivations for the quartet differ. The Worldwide Leader, like virtually every other company, has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 economic downturn. One would think Fox Sports is dealing with the same issues, though the behemoth of Fox News in such a time can serve as a stabilizing factor financially.

At first blush it seems like a tremendous coup for Fox to snatch up four young, talented voices from the opposition in short order. Both Acho and Vilma have proven to be comfortable in-studio and have room to grown in the booth, should that be the eventual plan. Amin is one of the best play-by-play announcers around right now and has shown terrific versatility. Cain will establish himself as one of the more thoughtful and palatable voices on the news side.

All of this feels like a team beefing up with tremendous moves at the trade deadline, with the added bonus of seeing the team it's chasing in the standings give away some of its key players. Will there be more moves along the same track in weeks to come? Time will tell. But's already been an eventful period on the ol' media transaction page.