Fox promoting Allison Williams to replace Laura Okmin on NFL sidelines
Fox is promoting college football sideline reporter Allison Williams to Laura Okmin’s NFL sideline reporter role, according to Front Office Sports.
The news comes nearly one month after Okmin told the outlet that she turned down a contract extension with Fox following 23 years with the network.
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It’s unclear which announce team Williams, who also covers MLB and college basketball for Fox, will work alongside this fall.
Okmin worked the “NFL on Fox” sidelines with play-by-play announcer Kevin Kugler and color analyst Daryl “Moose” Johnston for the 2024 NFL season.
Okmin will continue covering the NFL postseason and Super Bowl for Westwood One Sports radio.
FOS said Fox declined to comment on their story.
Williams has not yet addressed the promotion news.
She landed at Fox in 2022, following her contentious split from ESPN the year prior over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
In September 2021, Williams announced in a statement on Twitter that she was opting out of the college football season as a sideline reporter with ESPN because she had not received a vaccine against COVID-19, as she and her husband were trying for a second child at the time.
Williams, who had been with ESPN since 2011, said she decided not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine after consulting with her doctor as well as a fertility specialist — adding that she is “so morally and ethically not aligned with this” in a tearful Instagram video.
In 2023, Williams and former producer Beth Faber, sued ESPN in a joint lawsuit, which claimed the network and its parent company Disney violated their religious beliefs for firing them for refusing to comply with the vaccine policy.
Both Williams and Faber dropped the lawsuit in May 2024, according to Law360.
Okmin said she will focus on her company, GALvanize, which trains and mentors young women entering the sports world on and off camera after her departure from Fox.
The news of Williams’ promotion comes after Fox reportedly locked down veteran NFL sideline reporter Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson, who hosts the “Fox NFL Kickoff” show, to lucrative contract extensions.
Andrews is a part of Fox’s top NFL broadcast team, which includes analyst Tom Brady and play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
Fox’s roster of NFL sideline reporters includes Tom Rinaldi, Pam Oliver, Megan Olivi, Kristina Pink and Jen Hale.
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