Al Michaels’ long-rumored move to Amazon to become the play-by-play voice of Thursday Night Football is finally, truly going to happen.
After reporting for weeks that Michaels and Amazon were “on the half-yard line” in agreeing to a deal, the two sides have now pushed the ball over the goal line. The New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand reports that Michaels’ deal will be “in the Joe Buck neighborhood,” which presumably means that the legendary broadcaster will earn in the $15 million per year range. His contract is a three-year agreement.
(Buck reportedly agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract with ESPN.)
Michaels was reportedly under consideration by ESPN for its Monday Night Football booth and a pairing with Troy Aikman would have been intriguing. But the opportunity to keep Aikman teamed up with Joe Buck and continue a 20-year partnership was too enticing to resist.
There was also speculation (or maybe fantasizing for sports media observers) that Michaels could replace Buck on Fox’s No. 1 NFL broadcast team. But all signs point to Fox elevating Kevin Burkhardt to the network’s top play-by-play role, likely alongside analyst Greg Olsen.
As mentioned, Michaels is signing a three-year deal and perhaps that was a concern for both ESPN and Fox if they wanted at least a five-year commitment. Michaels was clearly waiting to put pen to paper with Amazon until the ESPN and Fox situations worked themselves out. Once it became apparent that both networks were moving in other directions, however, Amazon was the last option remaining for a broadcaster of Michaels’ stature.
Besides the money and best available opportunity, Amazon was believed to have an advantage with Michaels by hiring NBC’s Sunday Night Football producer, Fred Gaudelli, to oversee its Thursday Night Football coverage. Michaels and Gaudelli have worked together for decades, going back to their days on ABC’s Monday Night Football.
Michaels will partner with Kirk Herbstreit on Thursday Night Football broadcasts. Herbstreit signed on earlier this month and will continue broadcasting both College GameDay and college football telecasts for ESPN and ABC. Prior to bringing on Herbstreit, Amazon reportedly pursued Aikman, John Lynch, and Sean McVay for the TNF analyst role.
According to Marchand, Herbstreit’s deal will pay him “eight figures a year.” Amazon is expected to officially announce Michaels and Herbstreit as its TNF broadcast team, perhaps as early as this week.
One question that may be answered with that official announcement: How many games will Michaels call each season for Amazon? Marchand reports that Michaels will still call “a game or two” for NBC, including a playoff game — which isn’t part of Amazon’s package.
But Michaels hasn’t called a full slate of broadcasts during the past two seasons. NBC had 20 NFL telecasts in 2021, including Thursday night games for the season opener and Thanksgiving. Mike Tirico filled in when Michaels took a week off. But he was also contractually entitled to call some games each season, which might be why Michaels had some bye weeks on the schedule.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
