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Allison Williams will be promoted to the NFL beat at Fox Sports. Williams will succeed the departing Laura Okmin as an NFL sideline reporter on one of the network’s announce teams this season, sources tell Front Office Sports.
Williams joined Fox as a college football sideline reporter and studio host in August 2022 following a contentious split from ESPN over parent company Disney’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Williams, who was trying for a second child with her husband, said she decided not to comply with the vaccine mandate after consulting with her doctor and a fertility specialist. After being denied her request for an “accommodation,” the 10-year veteran announced her split with ESPN in October 2021.
“Belief is a word I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, because in addition to the medical apprehensions regarding my desire to have another child in regards to receiving this injection, I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this. And I’ve had to really dig deep and analyze my values and my morals, and ultimately I need to put them first,” a choked-up Williams said in an Instagram video.
Okmin, the third-longest-tenured sideline reporter in NFL history, told FOS last month she was leaving Fox after turning down a contract extension.
Okmin said she thought it was the right time to walk away from TV. She plans to focus on her company, GALvanize, which trains and mentors young women entering the sports world, as well as projects inside and outside the football world. The 30-year media veteran will continue covering the NFL postseason and Super Bowl for Westwood One Sports radio.
Okmin worked with play-by-play announcer Kevin Kugler and color commentator Daryl “Moose” Johnston during the 2024 season. Fox’s other NFL sideline reporters last season included Erin Andrews (who just signed a contract extension), Tom Rinaldi, Pam Oliver, Megan Olivi, Kristina Pink, and Jen Hale.
“They sent me the contract. I printed it out. I sat there. It was just my voice saying, ‘It’s time, this is it.’ I called my boss and my friend Jacob Ullman, who I’ve known as long as I’ve been at Fox Sports. I’m happy to say he was very surprised,” Okmin recalled. “I would have been very disappointed if there was any other reaction. It was a really nice call, because I got to have it with my boss and my friend.”
Fox declined to comment on this story.
