CTSN: Eli Gold Declined Opportunity For Limited Role With Network

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Crimson Tide Sports Network (CTSN) on Thursday issued a follow-up statement after news broke Wednesday that longtime radio broadcaster Eli Gold would not be returning to the booth for the 2024 football season.

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As Patch previously reported, Gold told local media “Well, the university has chosen not to bring me back. This is not, with a capital N-O-T, not at all health-related. I am very healthy. Everything is wonderful. I am healthy as a horse ... “I am not retiring. The university has chosen, as they say, to go in a different direction. And that’s certainly their right.”

Gold has served as the Tide's football radio broadcaster since 1988 and also hosted "Hey Coach!"

Indeed, Gold's ouster received little to no public fanfare from the University of Alabama administration and he immediately began to make the rounds on radio shows to state his case to the public.

CTSN in its statement says the network had worked out a plan to have Gold call the home games plus Auburn, with longtime CTSN broadcaster Chris Stewart handling away games.

"We are incredibly appreciative of the positive things Eli has contributed to the Crimson Tide Sports Network and The University of Alabama during his time with us, which is why our desire was for him to remain part of the gameday broadcast and allow us to celebrate his UA broadcast career," the network said. "But at this point, the interests of UA and CTSN are best served by Chris Stewart handling play-by-play for all games"

The CTSN statement then said that after a series of conversations over a period of time, Gold was presented with an opportunity to continue his contributions to the CTSN broadcast team in the coming years in a more limited role, including the lead broadcast role for this year's A- Day game.

"Unfortunately, he declined the opportunity," the network said/ "We will always appreciate Eli and wish him nothing but the best in his next endeavors. We are incredibly excited about the future of CTSN and what Chris Stewart will bring to the broadcasts in his new role."

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