By Jon Pierik
Leading sports commentator Gerard Whateley has remained loyal to Fox Footy and will not cross to Seven for the 2025 AFL season.
A source close to Whateley, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told this masthead on Monday that Whateley would not join the list of prominent names heading to Seven ahead of the 2025 season as the host free-to-air broadcaster continues to revamp its coverage.
Gerard Whateley will stay with Fox Footy in 2025.Credit: Justin McManus
Seven’s new head of sport, Chris Jones, has been bold in securing football commentators, including Age columnist Caroline Wilson and Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes from Channel Nine, and former St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, but Whateley will remain at Fox Footy, despite interest from the network.
Whateley remains under contract with Fox for at least two more years. He is expected to continue to host nightly review show AFL 360, but with a fresh partner as News Corp’s chief football writer, Mark Robinson, will reportedly not return for a 15th year in the role.
A source with knowledge of his situation said Whateley was likely to call matches for Fox next season, with the pay-television operator now providing its own commentary team for all matches under the new broadcast rights deal.
Fox has previously taken Seven’s feed for several games across the weekend, including the marquee Friday night slot.
Whateley also calls live AFL and international cricket matches for SEN, where he has a daily morning show. Fox and SEN will need to broker a deal that allows Whateley to call AFL matches for both networks next season, similar to the scheduling that has allowed the likes of Fox commentators Joe Montagna and Dwayne Russell to also juggle radio commitments.
Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley was contacted for comment.
Fox will weigh up potential candidates for 360, including Richmond triple-premiership star Jack Riewoldt, according to industry sources. Riewoldt was a forthright game-day commentator this season, and has been a regular on the panel show, as a player as well as filling in for Robinson. Riewoldt replaced Robinson on the final show of the year on Monday night.
Four-time Hawthorn premiership star Jordan Lewis has impressed as a commentator and when filling in for Robinson, while just-retired Geelong great Tom Hawkins is keen to have a greater role with Fox Footy.
“Yes, that’s the plan. I’m just working through how it looks at the moment. But I am certainly looking forward to doing some more work through the media next year,” Hawkins told this masthead on Monday night.
Prominent voice on Fox Footy: Richmond great Jack Riewoldt.Credit: Justin McManus
Fox Footy will have its own “Super Saturday” of coverage through the opening eight rounds of the 2025 season, with all games on a Saturday exclusively on Fox, except Anzac Day and Dreamtime at the ’G matches if they fall on a Saturday.
Whateley was contracted by Nine, owner of this masthead, to call athletics at the recent Olympics in Paris, but that was a one-off, according to the source close to him.
Jones has made an imprint since replacing Lewis Martin in the top sports job at Seven. The network will have football shows on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays through 2025.
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