Al Michaels reportedly getting 'Joe Buck money' to call NFL games for Amazon
Joe Buck isn't the only NFL announcer getting a huge payday to change networks this offseason.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, legendary play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels is taking his talents to Amazon Prime Video, where he'll call their "Thursday Night Football" broadcasts — and he's getting a lot of money to do it. Marchand reported that Michaels is getting a contract in the range of Buck's new ESPN contract, which is reportedly for $75 million over five years. Michaels is getting a three year contract, but the exact dollar amount isn't known.
Michaels had previously done play-by-play for NBC's "Sunday Night Football" along with former broadcast partner Cris Collinsworth, and called his record-tying 11th Super Bowl in February. But Michaels' contract with NBC had run out, and he was free to sign anywhere. It appears he's settled on Amazon Prime Video, which will begin its exclusive "Thursday Night Football" broadcasts next season.
Collinsworth responded to the news on Monday by sharing video of his final introduction by Michaels from February's Super Bowl.
One final time with the greatest of all time! pic.twitter.com/x85I66kOV1
— Cris Collinsworth (@CollinsworthPFF) March 21, 2022
Marchand reported that it took "months and months" of negotiations with Amazon to settle the contract, as Michaels wanted to see if ESPN or Fox would come calling with an offer. It's not clear if they ever did.
With Collinsworth remaining at NBC to call "Sunday Night Football" with Mike Tirico, Michaels' replacement, Michaels will obviously need a new broadcast partner. According to Marchand, Kirk Herbstreit will be filling that role on Amazon Prime Video. No details about Herbstreit's contract were available, but Marchand reported that it's for eight figures.
Herbstreit is still under contract at ESPN, but he's allowed to call games for other networks. He'll continue to call college games and appear on "College GameDay." He also wasn't Michaels' first choice, according to Marchand. Michaels reportedly wanted to be paired with Troy Aikman or Sean McVay, and Amazon pursued them both. However, Aikman defected from Fox to join ESPN and McVay, fresh off a Super Bowl win with the Los Angeles Rams, chose to remain a head coach.
Michaels, 77, has called "Sunday Night Football" for NBC since 2006, and before that called "Monday Night Football" for ABC Sports, starting way back in 1986. Per Marchand, Michaels is still expected to call several games a year for NBC.
