Apparently satisfied with ESPN’s new management, the NFL has decided not to inflict yet more punishment on the network. In other news, ESPN has announced its new Monday Night Football team and added an additional year onto Dick Vitale‘s contract.
NFL Extends Olive Branch to ESPN By Not Hammering it Further
The NFL has elected not to move ESPN’s annual Wild Card playoff game to FOX,
Sports Business Daily reported Thursday. The league considered the move after Fox Sports acquired the
Thursday Night Football package earlier this year, a deal that includes an option for a playoff game.
According to the report, the NFL’s change of heart is at least in part because ESPN’s new management — new president Jimmy Pitaro and, before him, interim president George Bodenheimer — has sought to patch up the network’s strained relationship with the league.
The opposite side of that coin is that the NFL has been playing hardball with ESPN for the past several years — through weak Monday Night Football schedules and the surprise addition of FOX to NFL Draft coverage — because of its poor relationship with the network’s former president John Skipper. [SBD 5.10]
New MNF Team Announced, Will Debut on Week 1 Late Game
ESPN officially announced its new
Monday Night Football broadcast team on Thursday, with
Joe Tessitore on play-by-play,
Jason Witten as the analyst and
Booger McFarland and
Lisa Salters on the sidelines. The new team will make its regular season debut on Rams-Raiders in Week 1, the second half of ESPN’s season-opening doubleheader. It will be the first time that ESPN’s main
MNF team has called the Week 1 late game. [ESPN PR
5.10]
Vitale Information For Your Everyday Life
ESPN college basketball analyst
Dick Vitale has reached a contract extension to remain with the network through the 2020-21 season, marking the fourth straight year that ESPN has tacked an additional season onto a deal originally reached in 2014. Vitale will continue in his current roles. [ESPN PR
5.10]
