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Report: Amazon closing in on hiring Al Michaels as play-by-play announcer for Thursday Night Football

The streaming platform would receive a major boost with Michaels’ presence on its games.

By Chinmay Vaidya
Television broadcaster Al Michaels looks on prior to the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots at M&T Bank Stadium on November 3, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Television broadcaster Al Michaels looks on prior to the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots at M&T Bank Stadium on November 3, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images

Amazon is looking to hire legendary broadcaster Al Michaels as the play-by-play announcer for its Thursday Night Football package, according to Andrew Marchand. Michaels’ contract with NBC runs through Super Bowl LVI, which will be played in 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Michaels has been a longtime broadcaster for NBC’s Sunday Night Football package and would bring immediate credibility and familiarity to Amazon’s broadcast. The company has shown it is willing to be a major player in the streaming sector and clearly has big bucks to spend towards creating an enjoyable product for customers. Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package has been viewed as a stepping stone for the company in relation to NFL rights. Adding Michaels would further propel the notion that Amazon hopes to one day become a destination for sports fans looking to stream games.

If Michaels were to make the move, Mike Tirico would reportedly handle the lead play-by-play role for Sunday Night Football. Michaels would still be able to broadcast excess games on NBC’s network whether they be playoff games or other regular season games.

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