Could 49ers-Rams be Troy Aikman’s last game on Fox?

The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night in the NFC championship game in what could be Troy Aikman’s last game with Fox.

The Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback has called games for the network for 20 years, all but one alongside play-by-play voice Joe Buck (the second-longest streak in NFL history, behind only Pat Summerall and John Madden). But Aikman’s contract with Fox expires at the end of the season, and he hasn’t been shy about discussing the possibility of joining Amazon as the analyst on Thursday Night Football next season, potentially alongside NBC announcer Al Michaels.

“There are conversations that are taking place,” Aikman told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch on his Sports Media podcast. “I don’t know if I’m going to be working for Fox. I don’t know if I’m going to be working for Fox and Amazon. I don’t know if I’m going to be working for Amazon… I’m not real sure how this thing’s going to look when it’s all said and done.”

Amazon can certainly throw a lot of money at Aikman, who might be seeking something in the ballpark of the $17.5 million a year Tony Romo is being paid by CBS. But Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package will only stream to Prime subscribers and air on local TV, and will almost certainly draw a fraction of the tens of millions that tune in to hear Aikman call a game in Fox’s late-Sunday afternoon window, something he admitted would factor into any decision he makes.

“The challenge with Thursday night is it’s not a flex schedule. So what looks to be a good game when the schedule comes out all of a sudden it’s not a competitive game,” Aikman told Deitsch. “You still do the work, you still go in and do the best job you can. But when you know that there’s not as much interest by the public, it’s not as much fun.”

Obviously, the interest from Amazon could also help Aikman land a larger contract with Fox. Two years ago, ESPN reportedly offered Romo between $10 million and $14 million a year to join Monday Night Football before resigning with CBS. Plus, Fox will broadcast the Super Bowl in 2023 and 2025, so it remains hard to see Aikman walking away simply for more money.

One possibility would be an arrangement that allows Aikman to call late Sunday afternoon games on Fox and also Thursday Night Football for Amazon, which is being produced by NBC. Aikman and Buck have pulled double duty for four straight seasons, but Aikman has repeatedly said calling both games is difficult and not something he’d like to do for the long run.

“When I first did Thursday nights, I thought it was something that I would do for one year and move on. Here we are four years later,” Aikman said. “It’s feasible, it’s viable, but it is a lot.”

Buck, who appeared this week on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, told host Jimmy Traina that Fox hasn’t spoken to him about a possible replacement if Aikman were to leave. But Buck said he’s had conversations with Aikman, and said he made his feelings clear to his longtime broadcast partner.

“I try not to think about it,” Buck said, “I don’t want him going anywhere. But at the end of the day he’s going to do what he wants to do.”

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Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream 49ers-Rams on Fox Sunday:

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