Baseball reopened for business last week and we expected to see a free agent frenzy, but it didn’t really materialize right away. Things are starting to heat up in the NFL. With the new league year beginning, there will be some players changing teams there too. There is another free agent bonanza to watch. This one isn’t on the field. It’s in the booth. The game of broadcasting musical chairs has begun.
Now that some of the biggest names in broadcasting are putting on new uniforms, networks, like teams, are looking for replacements. I think the same questions that football general managers are asking themselves are plaguing those in charge of the major networks as well.
Before we dive into the “musical chairs” of the broadcast booth, let’s examine the money factor. If I had a dollar for every network or sports franchise that cried poor, well, I could probably buy that network or team, right? But here they both are, throwing around cash like saltine crackers.
The NFL for example is basically printing money with its popularity, licensing and worldwide appeal. The networks benefit from their connections to the various leagues because advertisers want their commercials seen by a big audience. Oh, and they are willing to pay big bucks to accomplish that goal.
With that idea in mind, let’s break down the changes so far in the network broadcast booths.
ESPN
The Worldwide Leader opened the pocketbooks to bring Troy Aikman over from Fox to call Monday Night Football. Aikman’s deal is worth 90-million-dollars over 5-years. That’s roughly 18.5-million a year, more than Tony Romo is being paid at CBS. So, Aikman is the top analyst now at ESPN, demoting the current booth to ‘B’ games on the network. Brian Griese took off to get into coaching as he saw the writing on the wall.
Next at ESPN, Joe Buck joins his old pal Aikman as the top MNF team. Buck had one-year left on his deal at Fox and is expected to fetch something in the 5-year, 70-million- dollar range. According to the New York Post, Fox tried to keep Buck with a 12-million a year offer.
Will this also include a trade? As you may or may not remember, when ESPN/ABC allowed Al Michaels to go to NBC, the Disney company agreed only after securing the rights Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Look it up! Maybe Fox will offer up Stewie from Family Guy to do the intros on ESPN’s telecasts of the Monday Night Football?
AMAZON
The shakeup here is far less seismic than the one at Fox/ESPN, mainly because of the newness of this telecast. Amazon is taking over the broadcast rights to Thursday Night Football and needs to fill its booth. While the Jeff Bezos streamer has been pursuing Al Michaels (more on that in a moment), it has reportedly filled its analyst role with the Kirk Herbstreit. Herbstreit is expected to continue in his ESPN role on College Football with Chris Fowler. Herbstreit does have some NFL experience, he and Fowler called final week games in both 2021 and this past season.
NOW WHAT?
Ok, so now you know where some have gone, let’s investigate some of the folks that will replace those empty spots. Fox has the most openings with the number one booth from the past all gone. But they have other sports there that were covered by Buck, creating some other unique openings. NBC will likely turn to Mike Tirico to replace Michaels. CBS is standing pat.
FOX
Openings:
#1 NFL play-by-play and #1 NFL analyst. Also available #1 MLB play-by-play.
Let’s take these one at a time. I’m going to give you a list of who I feel are, could, or should be candidates. I may go a little off the rails with some thoughts. I know hard to believe I’d go off the rails, right? Stick with me here.
NFL play-by-play candidates: Kevin Burkhardt, Kenny Albert, Ian Eagle, Al Michaels, Kevin Harlan.
Personally, I’d love to see Fox swoop in and get Michaels. At 77-years old, he’s far from done, with plenty of zip left on his fastball. Michaels is needed on an NFL telecast, but Fox could offer a little more, Major League Baseball. How cool would it be if Michaels was able to call the Fox Saturday Game of the Week and then the MLB playoffs and World Series?
I know travel would likely be an issue for Michaels who would probably prefer to stick around the Los Angeles area, but that would be incredible. Michaels handled Cincinnati Reds broadcasts for a few years and was ABC’s lead voice on Monday Night Baseball for a long time too. I guess I’m saying more of Michaels is never a bad thing to me.
Albert is already a busy guy with the NHL, MLB and NFL responsibilities he already has. Harlan would be awesome, but he’s a busy guy too with NFL both on television and radio, NCAA and NBA. Eagle could be an interesting name to look into. I think his NBA work and the fact that he is able to call NCAA Tournament games where he is now at CBS would make him stay.
Realistically, if Fox is looking inward, Burkhardt is the obvious choice. He has ascended to the #2 broadcast on Fox and has a good knack for calling the sport. Not too much, not too little, I think he does a great job and would flourish in the lead role. He’s visible enough on the network, with his work during the MLB Playoffs, so introducing him to the audience would not be necessary at all. He works well with all types of personalities, if you don’t believe me just watch his studio work for baseball, dealing with A-Rod, Big Papi and Frank Thomas. He is highly qualified and would make an excellent top dog at Fox.
NFL Analyst candidates: Greg Olsen, Kurt Warner, Michael Strahan, Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Mina Kimes.
I would like to see Fox just end the speculation and name Olsen the guy alongside Burkhardt. The two have great chemistry and Olsen is really good at what he does. Coming off the field and into the booth doesn’t always translate as I’ve said a million times in this space, but he’s made it work. The free-flowing thoughts, the excellent insight and the sometimes-disheveled look work for me and should work for Fox as well. But we know that obvious choices to us don’t always translate to the obvious choice for executives. It would be a tremendous booth.
Strahan is already at the network as well, but how many jobs can one guy have? I like Strahan’s personality and he’s excellent on the Fox pregame show, but I’m not sure how that would translate to the booth. Warner has the experience and he’s very good. I wonder why Amazon didn’t get him to be in their booth for TNF? Payton is the flavor most are tasting these days, his name is all over the place, but again, I think his skills would be better served in a studio setting to start with. Brees has not been impressive so far, early in his broadcasting career.
Kimes is an interesting name to consider. She’s proven her knowledge of the NFL with her work on ESPN. She is talented and entertaining and would be a good choice for any network at this point. The fact that she never played football at any level is seen as a detriment, I say nonsense.
Kimes contributed to analysis for Rams pre-season games with Andrew Siciliano of NFL Network and five-time Pro Bowler Aqib Talib. Kimes more than held her own in the booth. It would be a bold choice, but not a crazy one at all.
WORLD SERIES
If Fox can’t get Michaels for the baseball postseason, they have a terrific candidate in-house already. Joe Davis would have no problem stepping in and taking over that booth alongside John Smoltz. He is a talented broadcaster that already endured the tough task of replacing Vin Scully in the Dodgers television booth. He did it seamlessly and in a very professional manner. That’s not easy and he handled it perfectly. Davis would be a great choice for Fox in that role.
AMAZON
This is the intriguing one. Michaels is thought to be the top candidate to take over the Thursday Night Telecasts on Amazon Prime. I’ve already given you my thoughts on Michaels, and I wonder if this would be a satisfying situation for him?
Yes, it’s the NFL one night a week just like when he was at NBC, but Amazon has ZERO postseason games and the thought of the playoffs without Michaels is not one I’m in favor of. To me this is a situation that will be fluid. You could list all the names that I did for the Fox opening, but the postseason situation may be a deal-breaker for some.
You’ve already got Herbstreit reportedly in the fold, right? He’ll be able to continue his work with ESPN, so why not reach out to Fowler? If they could both continue to be the voices of College Football on ESPN, it would work. ESPN won’t need them as the ‘back up’ team on Monday Night Football, with Steve Levy and Louis Riddick in the fold already. It would be a good, “first” booth for Amazon until they can secure some postseason rights.
The game of musical chairs is ongoing at this point with much movement in the booths across the land. These announcers are just trying to have a seat available when the music stops.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
