Michaels To Stay With “MNF” After Signing Eight-Year Deal

Michaels Inks Eight-Year “MNF” Deal With ESPN

ESPN yesterday named Al Michaels as the play-by-play announcer for “MNF” when the show moves to the network in ’06. Michaels, the voice of “MNF” on ABC since ’86, will be joined in the booth by analyst Joe Theismann. Suzy Kolber, currently the sideline reporter for ESPN’s Sunday night NFL games, and Michele Tafoya, who handles sideline duties for ABC, will continue as sidelines reporters with ESPN’s new team. ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Production Mark Shapiro said that in addition to John Madden and Troy Aikman, he made “a pretty long list” of potential candidates for the “MNF” analyst role, including ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser. Jay Rothman and Chip Dean, both of whom currently work on ESPN’s Sunday night NFL broadcasts, will continue in their roles as producer and director, respectively, for “MNF” (THE DAILY).

AL ABOUT MONEY? In N.Y., Andrew Marchand cites sources as saying that Michaels’ deal is for eight years and worth around $32M, “plus the use of a private jet for game travel.” Michaels will continue to earn $2M “for his limited schedule as the voice of the NBA on ABC next year.” The ESPN deal is about $1M more per season than NBC was offering. NBC Sports President Ken Schanzer said that NBC “could have had Michaels for ‘significantly less than the deal that was offered’ by ESPN, but Michaels still wanted too much money” (N.Y. POST, 7/27). Also in N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports NBC offered Michaels $2.9M a year. Meanwhile, “there was confusion yesterday about when Michael’s deal was completed.” While NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol indicated that he had “pulled his offer to Michaels on Monday night,” Shapiro said that “the deal had been made last week” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/27). Ebersol: “I can’t speak for Al, but the only issue was money. He clearly understood ... this was qualitatively the best package. But we have, at NBC, certain numbers that we won’t go beyond for certain roles.” However Michaels said, “The only issue was not money. ... The ESPN deal was a better deal, and it should have been because I’ve been at [the company] for 29 years” (THE DAILY). Shapiro: “To say Al Michaels made the decision based on perks or money he couldn’t get elsewhere is spin from somebody finishing in second place” (USA TODAY, 7/27).

Shapiro Says Patrick And Maguire Will Stay With ESPN

FLIGHT OF FANCY: In response to reports that Michaels demanded the use of a private plane to travel to games as part of a deal, Ebersol said NBC is “not in the business of providing private air travel.” Ebersol noted NBC News’ Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric do not have similar clauses in their contracts. Michaels denied making the requests, saying, “To make this seem like some sort of diva play for a private plane is ridiculous” (THE DAILY).

CABLE READY: Michaels had previously stated his hesitancy about moving from network TV to cable, but he said yesterday, “I was pretty much lobbying for the status quo, because I was hoping that ABC would continue [with ‘MNF’]. ... I didn’t understand why the league would be thinking in another direction, but the league answered that ... when it became apparent they could get about $200[M] more a year by going the other way” (THE DAILY).

LEFT OUT: Shapiro said that current ESPN NFL announcers Mike Patrick and Paul Maguire, who are not part of the “MNF” broadcast team, will stay with the net in some capacity. Maguire will probably have a role on the “MNF” pregame show. Shapiro said Patrick, who also calls college games for the net, “has the Dick Vitale clause. He tells us when he wants to quit working at ESPN. It’s a lifetime deal” (THE DAILY).

CORPORATE AMERICA: In L.A., Mike Penner writes, “Michaels has been the one constant, credible and defining voice to a sometimes meandering American institution since 1986.” Penner adds, “The pairing of Michaels and Theismann has the sound and feel of a corporate merger of convenience rather than design. ... [ESPN] needed to go outside to bring in some star power, but [refused] to concede it did not have the in-house staff capable of stepping up to the NFL big time” (L.A. TIMES, 7/27).

COSTAS STAYING PUT: NBC formally announced yesterday Bob Costas’ extension with the network through 2012 and his role as studio host of the net’s Sunday night NFL coverage. Costas will continue his roles as host of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and will also work the U.S. Open and The Players’ Championship golf tournaments. He will not be part of NBC’s regular season or early playoff round coverage of the NHL, though Ebersol said Costas may work during the Stanley Cup Finals. Meanwhile, with Michaels out of the picture, Ebersol would not say the focus will now move to Tom Hammond for the Sunday night play-by-play position, but he did say, “Tom’s at the top for just about any list that I could put together.” Hammond would not continue to call Notre Dame football for the net if he moved to the NFL (THE DAILY).