Media Street: Eddie McGuire will no longer be the frontman for Fox Footy’s AFL coverage

In a major change to the AFL media landscape, Eddie McGuire is scaling back his on-air duties and will no longer be the frontman for Fox Footy’s AFL coverage.

Eddie McGuire is scaling back his on-air duties and won’t be the frontman of Fox Footy this season.

The former Collingwood president has been gradually reducing his workload after more than three decades as one of the most influential figures in Australia’s media landscape.

But while there will be less of McGuire on screen, his influence will remain and he is currently in negotiations with Foxtel about future projects.

During his decade as the face of Fox Footy, McGuire called games each weekend and was their prime time host - he was part of last year’s Grand Final panel.

It’s understood he is looking to expand his business interests overseas and has expressed a desire to be a “global citizen” now that the world is opening up following Covid.

McGuire, 57, will still host Footy Classified on Wednesday nights and Channel Nine’s popular game show ‘Millionaire Hot Seat’.

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Eddie McGuire is scaling back his on-air duties this season. Picture: AAP Images

Ironically at the time McGuire leaves Fox Footy, the man he hired as coach and stood by during his days at Collingwood, Nathan Buckley, arrives as the station’s big-name recruit.

There has been a seismic shift over the past 18 months for the media personality who became known as Eddie Everywhere given he ruled Melbourne airwaves from all angles.

Less than 18 months ago he combined his work on Millionaire Hot Seat with calling games on Fox, a breakfast radio show on Triple M and presiding over the biggest football club in town.

There has been no-one like McGuire in Melbourne media with his career beginning as a reporter on Channel 10 before his big break as host of ‘The Footy Show’ on Channel 9 in 1994.

He stepped down from the role in 2006 but then made a Lazarus-like comeback in 2017 to try and resurrect the struggling show.

Former Melbourne champion Garry Lyon and James Brayshaw took over from 2006 to 2015 with Rebecca Maddern added to the panel in 2016.

Nathan Buckley is Fox Footy’s big recruit. Picture: AAP Images

Craig Hutchison was then named co-host alongside Maddern in 2017 but by July he was out and McGuire was lured back.

In 2020 McGuire was announced as the host of the new, mid-week edition of Nine’s AFL panel show Footy Classified alongside former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon, Matthew Llyod and Caroline Wilson.

Later that year the radio show he hosted with Luke Darcy, Triple M’s Hot Breakfast, came to an end after 11 years with McGuire saying he was “tired” and looking to reflect and recharge.

But his world was about to be turned upside down even more when he was forced to resign as Collingwood president after the release of the ‘Do Better’ report, which found systemic racism within the football club had gone unchecked for years.

McGuire had been president of Collingwood for almost 23 years.

Originally published as Media Street: Eddie McGuire will no longer be the frontman for Fox Footy’s AFL coverage