Tony Romo’s DUI Arrest Puts CBS Sports Future in Uncertainty

In August, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo was arrested in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence. Body-camera footage released by TMZ shows Romo struggling to answer basic questions and failing a field-sobriety test after admitting he had consumed a single Corona. Romo has not issued a public statement. The incident placed him on indefinite leave; he was originally scheduled to travel to Minnesota on September 13 to call the Vikings-Packers game, the league’s opening Sunday. CBS indicated that a decision on his employment is unlikely before his court appearance on September 21.

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Romo entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2003, eventually becoming the Dallas Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns. After retiring in 2017, CBS hired him as a lead color commentator, a move that quickly proved popular. In 2020 the network signed Romo to a ten-year, $180 million contract—approximately $18 million per year—to retain his on-air presence amid competition from ESPN and Fox Sports. For comparison, former teammate Troy Aikman later secured a five-year, $90 million deal with ESPN, while Tom Brady later obtained a ten-year, $375 million contract with Fox Sports.

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CBS Sports president David Berson told reporters on August 11 that there is “no timetable” for deciding Romo’s future, emphasizing the need to protect the network’s image and brand.

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CBS spends roughly $2.1 billion annually for NFL broadcast rights, a figure that highlights the league’s value to legacy networks. The network’s NFL coverage averaged 25.8 million viewers for late-Sunday games last season, and the Thanksgiving matchup between the Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs drew an average 57.2 million viewers—the largest regular-season audience ever recorded. These numbers illustrate the financial pressure surrounding high-profile analysts like Romo.

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• “Everyone thinks they can do this job. Trust me, it’s harder than it looks. A lot harder than it looks. There’s 17 people screaming in your ear while you’re talking,” — Patrick Crakes, a media consultant

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• “You’re really carrying the brand flag for your network, for your sport and for the league and that’s why those guys make so much money. There’s a lot of trust that goes into that,” — Patrick Crakes, a media consultant

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