Al Michaels is a free agent after his contract with NBC expired following the Super Bowl, and it sounds like Amazon has been making a relentless effort to sign him. If Michaels does agree to a deal with the tech giant, he is in line for a massive raise.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post has been reporting for months that Michaels is in deep contract negotiations with Amazon. Marchand said last week that Amazon has extended a three-year, $33 million offer to Michaels. However, that offer is apparently for Michaels to call less than a full season of “Thursday Night Football” games.
Michaels is now expected to call all 16 Thursday night games if he signs with Amazon. That could push his salary even higher, according to Marchand.
There was talk of Al Michaels' possibly just doing 11 of the 16 Amazon games, which is where the $30 million range contract talk came from. He is now doing all 16, if deal goes through with Amazon. So that total salary number maybe headed even further north. #DoYouBelieveInMoney
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 15, 2022
Michaels was making around $6 million per year at NBC, so the 77-year-old could see his annual salary double.
There has been a major shakeup in the NFL broadcasting world, and that is probably the reason Michaels has not signed his Amazon deal yet. Both Troy Aikman and Joe Buck have left FOX for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Michaels has been viewed as a possible candidate to replace Buck, though FOX is more likely to promote from within and give the job to Kevin Burkhardt.
Amazon wants to make a major splash in its first season as the exclusive carrier of “Thursday Night Football.” They have already signed Kirk Herbstreit to serve as their booth analyst. It’s hard to imagine Michaels somewhere other than a network TV broadcast, but the money is obviously there.
Photo: Aug 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Network television commentator Al Michaels before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
