An adult website’s offer to Joe Buck went viral Friday morning, when the company offered the announcer $1 million broadcast sexual acts on their live cameras.
Buck responded to The Action Network, which was the first to report the offer.
Depending on the site they could just be handing some of my money back to me. So I’ll hold out for a better offer and try to hold on to my day job. But I have to say I’m flattered. https://t.co/wBgkwnHyrA
— Joe Buck (@Buck) April 17, 2020
It didn’t end there. Buck’s wife, ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner, then got into the act.
Of all the offers you’ve turned down to keep your day job @Buck – this one not only hurts the most, but also had the most potential. Epic fail. https://t.co/tz5fquc3nf
— MichelleBeisnerBuck (@MichelleBeisner) April 17, 2020
Buck, known to be a good sport, then told SI’s Jimmy Traina.
“I don’t want to just take that job without a proper, open audition. So if they get Jim [Nantz] and Al [Michaels] and Mike [Tirico] and all the others who do what I do to audition, I’m in. If any one of them say no, I’m out. That’s all I can commit to at this time.“
So we reached out to Adrian Stoneman, vice president of business for the site, IM Live, which Stoneman says is a leader in the live cam pay business.
Stoneman said that unlike some sites, who offer outrageous dollars but don’t have them, IM Live is well-funded and was serious about Buck doing a new form of play-by-play.
“Without sports, we realized sports announcers were struggling, the work is just not there, so we figured we should do this,” Stoneman said.
To prove he’s serious, Stoneman is making a new offer after hearing what Buck told SI.
“We heard what Joe said and we’re going to up the ante,” Stoneman said. “If all those guys will do an audition, we’ll give $1 million to the winner.”
Sports announcers, including Buck, with nothing to do have gone viral over the past month by commentating on everyday life.
IM Live’s offer to Buck also mentioned potentially offering other jobs. “My inbox is flooded,” he said.
The trend started with UCLA basketball play-by-play announcer Josh Lewin, who started broadcasting “The Play By Play of Anything At All,” calling everything from a tree blowing in the wind to a Taquito coming out of the microwave.
So will Lewin, a veteran MLB and NFL announcer, consider?
“‘Hard pass’ is not the best phrase here all things considered, but as a father of two kids, this is a side hustle that would be awfully tough to explain,” Lewin said. “I am a little disappointed Joe turned it down because the chance to have brought back his “that was a disgusting act” line from the Randy Moss touchdown was a layup. But if Bob Costas wants to do it, he should add an ‘s’ to the end of his last name.”
