Amazon scores legendary broadcaster for ‘Thursday Night Football’
By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business
Amazon has found its announcers for “Thursday Night Football.”
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be the play-by-play announcers for Amazon Prime Video’s exclusive coverage of “Thursday Night Football” starting next season, kicking off with a September 15 telecast.
Landing Michaels, one of the most iconic announcers in sports history, is a big get for Amazon. Michaels will be leaving his post at “Sunday Night Football” to take on the new role. In February Michaels called his 11th Super Bowl, the most for any TV commentator.
That gravitas in the booth could help Amazon stand out as it becomes the first streaming service to broadcast a season-long NFL package. The deal was announced last week as part of the National Football League’s new $100 billion, 11-year agreement with its multiple broadcast partners.
Meanwhile, Herbstreit will pull double duty: In addition to now calling games for Amazon, he’ll continue at ESPN covering the NFL Draft and college football including “College Gameday.”
In a statement, Michaels called the Amazon-NFL deal “the new frontier in sports television.” Mike Tirico will take his spot on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” — which Michaels called for 16 years — joining Cris Collinsworth to call those games for the upcoming season.
Michaels and Herbstreit aren’t the only NFL announcers shuffling around. ESPN announced earlier this month that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are leaving their longtime home at Fox to lead the network’s “Monday Night Football” telecasts.
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