Fox 9's Dallman is going to Fox Sports 1, coming after ESPN

Fox 9's Vice President and News Director Bill Dallman has been named vice president and news director of Fox Sports 1, a new sports network, starting Aug. 17.

"Humbled to announce I've accepted a new position within Fox as VP News for Fox Sports 1, the 24-hour sports network," Dallman posted on Twitter.com Thursday.

Dallman can be humble about it, but this is HUGE, according to broadcast insiders with knowledge of the promotion who are not cleared to be quoted by name.

Fox Sports 1 is the news-sports network that is expected to be a true rival to ESPN. Dallman will be in charge of the news operation, which includes the three-hour "FOX SPORTS LIVE," the network's signature show. He will also be in charge of the 24/7 sports breaks on the channel.

Many cannot believe Dallman — the son of Gopher football great Bill Dallman — is leaving the State of Hockey. He is an avid, lifelong hockey player.

"I know. It was a bit of a shocker. But it was such a good opportunity, I couldn't turn it down," Dallman told me Friday.

Dallman and his wife Angela, executive producer of DIY's "Bath Crashers," are moving two kids from Minnesota to California, Will, 16, and Gianna, 12. Bath Crashers is based in the Twin Cities, but its parent company, BIg Table Media, is based in California, with a Minneapolis office.

Dallman didn't laugh along with me Friday when I joked that he'll be trading the Minnesota TV egos of Jeff Passolt and Heidi Collins for the bigtime network egos of Regis Philbin and Andy Roddick. Of course, the more apropos analogy may be the two guys who are going to anchor "FOX SPORTS LIVE," Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole. They look interesting in this clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAInXxNyIE.

Dallman added nearly 20 hours of news a week in his first three years at FOX 9. He also oversaw the redesign of the station website and the launch of mobile apps and streaming platforms, all while scoring the highest news ratings in station history across morning, evening and late-night newscasts, according to a news release.

From personal experience, I can tell you that Dallman manages egos well while creating a great news environment.

Prior to coming to Fox 9 in 2006, Dallman was vice president/news director at FOX owned-and-operated KDVR Fox 31 News in Denver, where he built a news department from scratch, according to a Fox 9 story.

He is also a KSTP-TV alum.