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Al Michaels Signs Emeritus Deal With NBC Sports In Addition To His Amazon Duties

Al Michaels, who in March exited NBC’s flagship Sunday Night Football booth after 16 seasons to join the new Thursday Night Football franchise at Amazon, isn’t exiting his former home completely.

NBC Sports said Tuesday that it has signed Michaels to an “emeritus role,” a deal that the network said will see him continue to broadcast and contribute across the sports division’s high-profile properties including the NFL playoffs and the Olympics. He is expected to call one postseason NFL game for NBC this upcoming season.

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“Revered by viewers and colleagues, Al has been the soundtrack for many of the greatest moments in sports television history,” NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said. “We are thrilled that he’s staying in the family and raising the stature of our events for years to come.”

The news comes after Michaels ended his NBC run by doing play-by-play for his record-tying 11th Super Bowl and signed a deal to call Thursday Night Football alongside Kirk Herbstreit for Amazon Prime Video, which will mark Michaels’ record 37th NFL play-by-play campaign in primetime.

Amazon scored an 11-year rights deal for the games, the first time a streaming platform will have a weekly NFL exclusive. It will stream a total of 15 regular-season contests.

“I’m looking forward to continuing my longtime NBC relationship while also launching the Thursday Night Football package on Amazon this fall,” said Michaels, who has also covered nine Olympics and called eight World Series. “A special thanks to NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua and the folks at NBCUniversal for their help in making this happen.”

This NFL offseason saw a broadcaster merry-go-round with Michaels leaving the top NBC booth for Amazon, joined by Herbstreit, who had been at ESPN. ESPN then landed Fox Sports’ top team Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in a deal that includes the Monday Night Football job. Michaels’ longtime SNF partner Cris Collinsworth is staying at NBC and is being joined by Mike Tirico. Kevin Burkhardt is filling Buck’s NFL spot now at Fox.

Michaels, an eight-time Sports Emmy winner, is the only commentator to call the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and host the Stanley Cup Final for network television.

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