Nick Wright Signing Fox Extension, Cementing Future Face of FS1

Nick Wright will sign a new, long-term contract to remain with Fox Sports’ FS1 network, Front Office Sports has learned.

The 40-year-old Wright, who cohosts First Things First, has become one of the biggest stars in sports media. Fox declined to comment.

Securing a long-term relationship with Wright is smart business. He’s become the network’s second-biggest personality behind Colin Cowherd, whose current deal expires in 2025. In August, some executives told us they believed Wright was the future of the network.

With the 72-year-old Skip Bayless out the door, the move signals FS1 building around the young, charismatic Wright. Especially if the 60-year-old Cowherd returns to his former home at ESPN. Or if the longtime host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd steps away to focus on his fast-growing podcast network, The Volume.

Why not? Wright and on-air partners Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes are delivering the goods for FS1. I think the trio has the best chemistry at FS1. The show had its most-watched year in 2023, and since moving to the current 3 p.m. weekday time slot, has posted a 53% increase in viewership through September.

Wright has been a mainstay on First Things First since it debuted as the morning lead-in to Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe’s debate show in 2017. His clout is growing. Wright successfully lobbied management to hire Chicago sports radio host Danny Parkins, a close friend from their days at Syracuse, for their new morning program Breakfast Ball.

“I’ve been doing the show for a long time. The show has not always been great. Thanks to Wildes and Brou, we’re able to do it,” Wright told the New York Post in April. “I’m incredibly proud of the show, and it’s gratifying that people are watching us.”

Wright, a Kansas City native, is the No. 1 Chiefs booster in sports media. His popular “Mahomes Mountain” segment has become a show within a show, drawing celebrity guests like Heidi Gardner of Saturday Night Live and Joel McHale.

On the digital front, the What’s Wright? With Nick Wright podcast/YouTube show boasts 165,000 subscribers, while First Things First has 894,000.

Wright has roughly one million social media followers across X/Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram alone.