ESPN will reportedly welcome back at least one member of its Sunday NFL Countdown crew next fall.
Countdown host Sam Ponder and the network have reportedly agreed to a new contact, according to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. The deal will reportedly pay her a total of about $3 million over the next three years.
Ponder, who was reportedly nearing the end of her contract, will remain in her role on the Sunday NFL pregame show, but is also expected to carry out additional responsibilities at ESPN. One such area where she plans to contribute moving forward is NFL Draft coverage, per Marchand.
Although Ponder and ESPN were eventually able to strike a new deal, negotiations between the two sides were reportedly bumpy at times. According to Marchand, one of the potential points of contention was that the host’s role at the company had been limited to Sundays since she took over hosting Sunday NFL Countdown.
Nevertheless, the 36-year-old and ESPN were able to hash out a new contract. With a quarter of its pregame show crew locked up for the next few years, the network will now turn its efforts to finalizing a lineup of studio analysts for Sundays in 2022.
