Whether it’s the combine, the draft, or free agency, the NFL news cycle truly never ends. Now, it appears we can throw broadcaster free agency into the mix after it was reported this week that Troy Aikman is preparing to sign a lucrative deal with ESPN to join the Monday Night Football booth.
Aikman's deal, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, is worth around $90 million over five years and could launch a new wave of movement in the NFL TV landscape. It remains to be seen who joins Aikman at ESPN with Marchand reporting that Joe Buck is at the top of the network’s list. Al Michaels, another broadcasting legend, could also be on the move to Amazon with Mike Tirico reportedly taking over play-by-play duties on Sunday Night Football.
“NFL TV announcer free agency may be more entertaining than baseball free agency if we ever get baseball free agency,” Chris Goforth said on 92.9 The Game this morning.
The moves will keep on coming as any deals made by NBC, ESPN or Amazon in the near future will likely have a ripple effect across the industry.
Aikman’s megabuck deal follows in the footsteps of Tony Romo’s 10-year, $180 million deal with CBS in 2020 which launched this new era where fans are able to follow broadcaster contracts just like they do with their favorite players. With that said, should networks be willing to pay these premiums for a flashy broadcast team?
“I think it’s an absolute waste of money because I don’t think Troy Aikman, or anybody else really, has any bearing on whether we watch games or not. I don’t watch a game for the announcers, I watch the game for the game,” Goforth said.
To that point, Goforth pointed out that the 2021 iteration of the MNF booth comprised of Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese did not receive universal praise yet the ratings reached their highest point since 2013.
Listeners chimed in on the conversation with most saying that they agree with Goforth on the notion that announcers don’t cause them to tune in or tune out. Let us know what you think!
