It has been rumored for a few weeks, but officially confirmed yesterday: Al Michaels, the legendary broadcaster, will be leaving NBC and joining Amazon. Michaels will lead Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts with Kirk Herbstreit.
For the past few years, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) had the rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football games, but 2022 will be different. This year, Amazon will have exclusive rights to the Thursday Night games, meaning that football fans will have to watch the games on Amazon if they would like to see them.
Cris Collinsworth and Michaels have been in the broadcast booth together for more than 10 years for NBC, a division of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Collinsworth took to Twitter to pay homage to Michaels:
One final time with the greatest of all time! pic.twitter.com/x85I66kOV1
— Cris Collinsworth (@CollinsworthPFF) March 21, 2022
Collinsworth is famous for his “slide in” on broadcasts where he is introduced to the audience by sliding into the frame with Michaels.
Why It’s Important: Amazon buying rights to NFL games is part of a bigger trend of more content providers trying to get into the sports space. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently announced a deal with MLB to broadcast baseball games.
Photo: Screenshot from NBC broadcast of Super Bowl LVI via Ken88
