Comcast, NFL Agreement Over NFL Network Deemed Long Overdue

FIGHT FOR RIGHTS: In Utah, Scott Pierce reports with NBC's contract for "Sunday Night Football" now the NFL's only television deal that expires after the '11 season, there is "some talk that Versus might go after it." Pierce: "Nobody is saying this is likely. But you can't count it out, either." Versus has "already shown its willingness to bid on NFL games," as it bid in '06 on the Thursday-Saturday package that went to NFL Net. Versus also "really, really wants to raise its profile to something closer to ESPN," and there is "no better way to do that than land NFL games" (DESERET NEWS, 5/22).

PLUGGING THE GAP: USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand takes a look at possible candidates to fill the vacancy of NFL Net's game analyst for its regular-season package following Cris Collinsworth's departure for NBC's "SNF." The net "has shown it will take risks to create buzz, such as using Bryant Gumbel, who'd never called football, on game play-by-play," and Hiestand lists Fox' Michael Strahan, the combination of Fox' Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long and retired NFL analyst John Madden among his potential targets. Strahan is "wasted just being in a studio and should get a chance beyond his regular gig," though Hiestand writes Bradshaw and Long "would be my pick. Let 'er rip." Meanwhile, he writes "don't laugh" concerning Madden. Hiestand: "If NFLN also signed Brett Favre for a three-man booth with its late-season eight-game schedule, Madden might be tempted" (USA TODAY, 5/22).

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