FOX Sports has scored a massive coup, stealing popular sports reporter Yvonne Sampson from Channel Nine.

Following weeks of negotiations with Fox Sports bosses Patrick Delany and Steve Crawley, Sampson officially signed with the subscription TV giant, with execs understood to have been impressed with the 35-year-old’s on-air presence and immense knowledge of the NRL.

The multi-year deal comes as Fox is set to launch its dedicated 24-hour NRL channel in 2017 and will see Sampson work alongside the network’s current NRL team of Lara Pitt, Matt Johns, Nathan Hindmarsh and Gorden Tallis.

media_camera Fox Sports execs were impressed with Sampson’s on-air presence and immense knowledge of the NRL.

For the past two years, Sampson has been front and centre of Nine’s Rugby League coverage, fronting Friday Night Football, the Sunday Footy Show and the State of Origin.

Sampson’s switch to Fox Sports comes after the revelation of a massive pay discrepancy between female and male sports reporters at the Nine Network.

It was also revealed that ­female sports talent have been expected to work for “free” outside their contracted duties and fly economy while their male counterparts were treated to business class seats.

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