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Amazon reaches agreement for Thursday Night Football broadcasters, per report
By Keith Farner
Published:
Amazon has landed its new broadcasters for Thursday Night Football, and they are household names.
Legendary NFL play-by-player Al Michaels is in agreement with Amazon Prime Video to lead its booth when it begins its exclusive coverage of Thursday Night Football in the fall, The New York Post reported.
Michaels’ partner will be ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. An official announcement could come as early as this week.
Michaels’ move to Amazon has been widely rumored since his days with NBC were numbered and the network set its sights on Mike Tirico to be the lead play-by-play voice for NFL games.
Michaels will be paid near the Joe Buck neighborhood, according to the report from Andrew Marchand. He noted that Joe Buck, who recently left FOX Sports, signed a five-year, $75 million deal with ESPN to join his longtime partner at Fox, Troy Aikman, on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Michaels’ contract is for 3 years.
Herbstreit, who has two years remaining on his ESPN deal, will also continue on “College GameDay” and Saturday college games. The terms of Herbstreit’s Amazon contract is not yet fully known, but sources said it is for eight figures a year.
All these moves were part of an unprecedented NFL offseason for TV broadcasters.
Michaels, 77, was a free agent after he called his record tying 11th Super Bowl on TV for NBC last month. Michaels will still do a game or two for NBC, including its extra NFL playoff game, according to sources.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
