Longtime Fox NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin leaves after 23 years

Fox’s NFL broadcasts will have a notable void this year.

Longtime sideline reporter Laura Okmin is leaving the network after 23 years, she told Front Office Sports.

Okmin is the third-longest sideline reporter in NFL history, according to her Fox biography, and is trading in her mic to focus more on her GALVANIZE company that helps aspiring women in sports professions, along with other opportunities both within and outside football.

Laura Okmin is leaving Fox on her own accord. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

She will, however, continue to cover the NFL postseason and Super Bowl for Westwood One radio network.

“They (Fox) sent me the contract. I printed it out. I sat there. It was just my voice saying, ‘It’s time, this is it,'” Okmin told Front Office Sports.

“I called my boss and my friend Jacob Ullman, who I’ve known as long as I’ve been at Fox Sports. I’m happy to say he was very surprised. I would have been very disappointed if there was any other reaction. It was a really nice call, because I got to have it with my boss and my friend.”

Okmin joined Fox in 2002 and has covered more than 20 Super Bowls, along with several NBA Finals, the World Series and MLB All-Star games, per her Fox bio and her website.

She spent the 2024 season with play-by-play man Kevin Kugler and analyst Daryl “Moose” Johnston.

Laura Okmin interviewing Michael Penix Jr. during the 2024 season. Getty Images

The Kansas graduate said there have been downsides to her highly visible position.

“Honestly, it’s a tough job having to justify your job for 20 years,” Okmin told the outlet. “Having to fight for your job and having to justify it. It feels like there’s a bit of dog years with that job. There’s a wonderfulness that comes with it. But also a lot of other s–t.”

Okmin’s website states her GALVANIZE company helps women who aim to become broadcasters, along with those working in roles in the sports field, and provides a strong network for those in the industry.

“Through boot camps, virtual camps and continued connectivity all year round, we are about building confidence – in ourselves and in each other,” her website reads. “We are about knowing your own story while you learn to tell somebody else’s – and we are about SISTERHOOD.”