Report: Eli Gold Not Returning to Call Alabama Football Games in 2024

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Eli Gold, the radio voice of Alabama football on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, will not be returning to call games next year, per a report from The Tuscaloosa News.

Gold has been the play-by-play voice of the Crimson Tide for 35 years, and has become synonymous with Alabama football in the eyes of many fans as he’s tied to a plethora of iconic plays in Crimson Tide history.

Per the same report from The Tuscaloosa News, Chris Stewart is the likely candidate to take Gold’s place as the permanent radio voice of Alabama football. Stewart is the current play-by-play voice for the Alabama men’s basketball team, and filled in for Gold during the 2022 season while he battled a treatable form of cancer.

During the 2023 season, Gold called all of Alabama’s home games as well as the Iron Bowl, while Stewart called Crimson Tide road games.

Gold has called a variety of sports during his award-winning broadcasting career, including ice hockey and NASCAR before beginning in Tuscaloosa in 1988. Gold has also spent time covering the NFL, as well as the Arena Football League during his lengthy and accomplished career.

Gold is a four-time winner of the Alabama Sportscaster of the Year award, as voted on by the National Sportscaster and Sportswriter Association. He was also named the Alabama Sportscaster of the Year by the Associated Press twice in his career.

Gold is expected to still continue his radio broadcasting career, calling games for the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.