There has been a lot of speculation as to where the broadcasting pieces will fall into place next season for the NFL’s network partners now that Amazon has the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football.
Reports came out last month that ESPN College Gameday’s Kirk Herbstreit has garnered interest from Amazon to be their NFL analyst for TNF. It seems that these negotiations have ramped up in a big way, as NBC’s Peter King reported that Herbstreit will indeed join Amazon for NFL games.
This has gotten a ton of reactions on social media from those wondering how Herbstreit will handle covering the NFL on a full-time basis.
To some, it may be shocking that Herbstreit would even be interested in calling NFL games, but he has said in the past that, in the perfect world, he would be covering both the NFL and college football.
It appears he will get his wish, as he is expected to also continue with his college football role at ESPN, which has many college football fans excited.
While some think it could be a difficult transition for Herbstreit, he has called a handful of Monday Night Football games in recent years on ESPN, so he certainly has the experience.
This is a huge addition to the Thursday Night Football coverage for Amazon going forward. Herbstreit certainly has the big name that Amazon was likely looking for to start their full-time broadcast of the product, even if he’s not the name they initially wanted.
Now we will have to wait and see how the rest of the dominos fall for other networks’ broadcast booths. Many expect Herbstreit to be paired with Al Michaels, but there have been rumors that Michaels could possibly go to ESPN to join Troy Aikman on Monday Night Football instead.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.