Rating the FOX announcers for Vikings-Lions

Greg Olsen, a former NFL tight end who has become one of the best analysts in the game, will be in the booth on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

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Having covered the sports TV-radio beat for the Star Tribune for eight years, I found there was plenty of interest in that side of the business.

We tune into games to watch the action, but the viewing experience either can be enhanced or taken away from by those describing what is going on.

Thus, each week I’m planning to do a brief analysis of who will be in the booth to call Vikings’ game and whether the assignment is a good or bad one.

Network and broadcast team: FOX will have Adam Amin and Greg Olsen in the booth with Pam Oliver on the sideline.

Rating the duo: 7.5 on a scale of 1-10.

Why that rating? Olsen remains FOX’s best NFL analyst, despite losing his spot alongside Kevin Burkhardt on the network’s top broadcast team to Tom Brady in what was a planned move. Brady received a 10-year, $375 million from FOX in May 2022 but didn’t start until this season.

Olsen, whose salary reportedly was cut from $10 million to $3 million when he went to the No. 2 team, again will be working without regular broadcast partner Joe Davis. Davis is calling playoff baseball for FOX and also will work the World Series.

The 37-year-old Amin will be paired with Olsen for a second consecutive week. Last week, they worked the Buccaneers-Saints game, along with Oliver. Amin normally partners with former New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and is a very solid play-by-play announcer.

The Vikings-Lions matchup is one of the most attractive in the NFL in Week 7, but it won’t get FOX’s top team. Burkhardt, who called Kansas City’s victory over Philadelphia alongside Olsen in February 2023 in the Super Bowl, will be with Brady on the Chiefs-49ers game at 3:25 p.m. Sunday.

That will give Vikings fans a chance to enjoy Olsen’s work and find out why he won a Sports Emmy Award this year in the “Outstanding Personality – Event Analyst” category.