ESPN has major competition to battle for the Manningcast

ESPN’s Monday night Manningcast has quickly become a hit this season, and now the media company has competition from another giant corporation. Amazon is watching and wants a piece of the Manning pie, according to a report from Front Office Sports.

Amazon Prime Video is hoping to land a deal with Peyton and Eli Manning for a “Thursday Night Football” Manningcast when the brothers’ three-year contract with ESPN expires in 2023.

Still in its first year, the alternate “Monday Night Football” broadcast has already achieved massive success with viewers. Over their first eight games of this season, the brothers have averaged 1.6 million viewers on ESPN2. They have already generated the seven most-watched alternate telecasts in ESPN history (hitting a high of 1.96 million viewers for MNF’s Week 8 game on Nov. 1).

Thanks to their many connections, the Mannings have been able to attract a star-studded cast of guests to the show to keep viewers watching. That includes LeBron James, Tom Brady, Condoleezza Rice, David Letterman and many more.

The brothers are scheduled to return to the ManningCast twice more during the 2021 season, providing alternate calls of the Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers MNF game on Jan. 3, then the Wild Card playoff game on Jan. 17. 

ESPN would likely get the first chance to secure the Manningcast long term, with contract renewal talks expected to begin as soon as 2022. But whatever ESPN offers, Amazon can likely beat. The company generated a reported $386 billion in sales for 2020.

“Amazon could just come in with a ton of money for the show — plus Amazon Prime content deals for Omaha Productions — then move ManningCast over in two years,” one source said.

Amazon has recently made a point to involve itself more in the NFL, as it is a lead contender to buy up to a 49% stake in league properties such as NFL Network. It is debating on pursuing a TNF announcing “dream team” of Troy Aikman and Al Michaels for 2022.

Despite the large paycheck that would come, some have expressed skepticism about moving the Manningcast to a different platform.

“Why mess with success?” another source asked. “Don’t forget the NFL would probably have to approve. The league loves what ESPN is doing with the Mannings on TV. Does the NFL want ManningCast to be a streaming-only property?”

Adding to this is the fact that the Mannings and their company, Omaha Productions, have had a working relationship with ESPN since 2019. Aside from the Manningcast, the popular series “Peyton’s Places” is available to stream on ESPN+. An additional series titled “Eli’s Places” is in development.

With two years remaining on the contract, it could be a while before we see Peyton an Eli elsewhere, if ever. Still, the interest from Amazon provides major competition to ESPN in its quest to retain the Manningcast.