Airing a Super Bowl is a bit like a presidential election.
It might come around every four years, but candidates – in this case, the four networks with the privilege and pockets to be in the broadcast rotation – are constantly jockeying and positioning themselves, especially as their turn nears.
That makes CBS’ conundrum with Tony Romo even more precarious. Super Bowl 61 will return to ABC/ESPN for the first time in two decades to end the 2026 season on Feb. 14, 2027, but then CBS will officially be on the clock for February 2028, when it will host its first Super-Bowl broadcast since 2023.
Romo, the network’s No. 1 game analyst who partners with Jim Nantz, was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) and pleaded no
contest Sept. 2 to three charges he faced from the incident, which occurred while in his native Wisconsin on July 23. The subsequent police officer bodycam footage became Internet fodder, as Romo failed his field sobriety test, told the officer who pulled him over he was “going to see grandma and grandpa” (his own parents) and had an open container in the passenger seat.
In his first public comment since the arrest, Romo said via a Sept. 1 statement posted to his Instagram account, “I own this completely.” He also noted an over-reliance on alcohol stemming from a dependence on pain medication following his playing career.
“Tony accepts full responsibility for his actions and has taken proactive steps to ensure that this isolated civil matter is properly resolved,” a spokesperson for Romo had previously said in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Sports after the charges were filed Aug. 27.
When will Tony Romo return to CBS?
Romo is currently on leave from CBS. His arrest, amid years of backsliding performance in the booth, only complicates CBS’ approach for Super Bowl 62 – mainly, will Romo be in the booth representing CBS during the network’s most important day in five years?
“The planning truly starts right after the previous one (Super Bowl),” CBS Sports president David Berson said Aug. 11. “It won’t pick up in earnest until later this season.”
Whether Romo will return by that point remains a mystery.
“What I can say, is that it’s an evolving situation,” Berson said. “And therefore, we’re still assessing. There’s no timetable or final decision at this time.”
Berson and CBS felt it was important to move forward with certainty to focus on the production and marketing of the upcoming season. Former Houston Texans defensive end and three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt moved up from CBS’ No. 2 team with Ian Eagle to be Nantz’s partner for the start of the season.
Romo was due in court Sept. 21 – eight days after what was supposed to be his first assignment for Week 1 of the NFL season – but with the legal matter now closed, there isn’t much red tape to hold up Romo’s return.
“In making this decision, we have to consider the impact on our image and on our brand,” Berson said while elaborating why the network quickly promoted Watt in Romo’s stead for the start of the season. “That’s very important to us.”
CBS would much rather focus on the presentation of the NFL product rather than the memes created by the online community after its lead analyst’s transgression.
“We have a really deep bench, and I’m proud of the way everyone is stepping up and responding,” Berson said.
USA TODAY Sports reached out to CBS multiple times and inquired whether the network had any updated comment or timeline in light of Romo’s plea and statement but has yet to hear back.
The network owned the most-watched window of 2025, according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, with 25.8 million viewers on average watching the Sunday late afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET) games. The Thanksgiving Day Kansas City Chiefs-Dallas Cowboys contest, called by Nantz and Romo and watched by a record-setting 57 million viewers, helped.
Berson, who took over the job in 2024 with Romo already entrenched in the top booth, referred to Romo’s arrest as a personal and legal matter for the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
From Romo-stradamus to question mark
It was Berson’s predecessor, Sean McManus, who made Romo the highest-paid announcer in the game with a lavish 10-year, $180 million deal in 2020.
At the time, Romo was in demand. ESPN desperately tried to woo him into the “Monday Night Football” booth while that iconic brand temporarily floundered until Joe Buck and Troy Aikman arrived.
The demand was warranted. Romo had the institutional knowledge of a quarterback who had played the opposing defenses a year or two earlier at the start of his broadcasting career. He was savant-like, occasionally. His pre-snap predictions, combined with his excitement, offered the necessary combination of intellect and authenticity.
As the seasons passed, however, the schemes changed. The players did, too. And cracks in Romo’s broadcasting game began to show.
The predictions were no longer as precise or as frequent. For some, the boisterous attitude became grating. While there were whispers about his lack of preparation, the evidence – misidentifying players, for example – was indicting. The New York Post reported on an “intervention” by CBS bosses, which initially drew pushback from McManus before he eventually admitted that executives offered Romo feedback prior to the 2023 season.
There’s also the consideration of Watt, who has only one year of experience in the booth. If he and Nantz hit it off in the same way the former defensive end and Eagle did, that would only complicate matters for Berson and his team.
Tony Romo contract
Another question is Romo’s contract and the $72 million left on it. According to The Athletic, Romo’s deal contains a standard morals clause that is inherent in all top talent contracts across the industry. Such language typically stipulates that companies can nullify contracts if their brand has been negatively affected by the talent’s public embarrassment, although there is no indication that is the case with CBS and Romo at the moment. Romo referred to his broadcasting gig as a “profound honor of staying close to the game.”
Another factor affecting Romo’s comeback is his health. Romo said he is working with a team of doctors to address his recovery.
“As I have taught my three young sons: when you fall short, you stand up and take full responsibility,” his statement read. “That is an important first step. The harder and more important step is examining the path that brought you here and making the changes necessary to move forward. That path requires honesty. None of this is an excuse. These are my failures, and I take responsibility for them.”
Only in the last line of his statement did Romo allude to his potential reentry to the booth “in time.”
“As I turn my attention to my health, my family, and, in time, my return to CBS,” Romo said, “I kindly ask for privacy during this period.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tony Romo's arrest turned the one-time CBS star into a bigger question mark
