What has been an open secret for well over a year is now official — Mike Tirico is the new voice of Sunday Night Football.
NBC confirmed Tuesday that Tirico will serve as its new lead NFL play-by-play voice starting this season, doing so not in a press release but in a statement to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Tirico replaces Al Michaels, who held the role since moving from ABC’s Monday Night Football to SNF in 2005.
Michaels, the New York Post reported Monday, has agreed in principle to join Amazon as the voice of Thursday Night Football. The sides have been characterized as close to a deal for months, but Michaels held off on making a commitment after Troy Aikman’s unexpected move from FOX to ESPN created potential openings at both networks. Michaels had interest from ESPN, but the network passed him over once it was able to secure Aikman’s longtime Fox partner Joe Buck. Per the Post, his representatives reached out to Fox to gauge its interest, but that company plans to go in-house for its Buck replacement.
Previous reporting on Michaels’ negotiations with Amazon indicated that he could still call some games for NBC, essentially taking the role that Tirico has occupied in recent seasons — an occasional backup voice during the regular season and playoffs. Monday’s Post report set the number at “a game or two.” As has been noted, the TNF games will be produced by Michaels’ longtime Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli.
Michaels, per multiple reports, will be working with Kirk Herbstreit on the Thursday night games. Aikman had originally been expected to join him at Amazon.
The move to Amazon takes Michaels out of the Super Bowl rotation for the first time in his career.
For Tirico, his long-expected ascension to NBC’s lead NFL team ends a six-year hiatus from regular NFL game-calling. The voice of Monday Night Football from 2006-15 — a role he won after Michaels backed out of an eight-year contract to join NBC — Tirico has called precious few football games during his NBC tenure. Beyond filling in for Michaels occasionally and calling NBC’s extra playoff game the past two seasons, his football play-by-play has been limited to Notre Dame college games.
