Kirk Herbstreit signs with Amazon, joins Thursday Night Football broadcast

One of the main voices of college football, Kirk Herbstreit, is set to join the Thursday Night Football broadcast team this upcoming season as a part of a new individual joint deal with Amazon and ESPN. The deal allows Herbstreit to remain a part of ESPN as a college football analyst, while taking his voice to the NFL broadcasts on Thursdays.

With Herbstreit to Amazon official, one would think the company will likely cash in on Al Michaels to sign his three-year, $33 million deal to join Thursday Night Football as well. Michaels and Amazon have been deep into talks, but Michaels has allegedly been waiting to see what would happen with Joe Buck and Monday Night Football.

According to the New York Post, their sources have said with the Buck to MNF news official, Michaels is now at the “half-yard line” on going to Amazon. 

On Friday, Fox Sports granted Buck permission to speak to ESPN, and shortly after, a deal between Buck and ESPN has been rumored that would reunite him with Troy Aikman on Monday Night Football.

Buck was not only a commentator for the NFL but also for Fox Baseball coverage as well. He has called the World Series for nearly a quarter-century for Fox. Buck has also been the play-by-play announcer for six Super Bowls.

Fox will now be looking for a new premier play-by-play announcement for two upcoming Super Bowls. He has also been the voice of the World Series for well over two decades. The broadcast company is reportedly most likely to stay in-house but could look for external candidates. According to reports, Kevin Burkhardt is the favorite to replace Buck as Fox’s lead NFL broadcast.

With the Michaels deal yet to be announced, the largest commentator carousel in sports broadcasting history continues as the voices of your favorite programs will be mismatched over the next year.