ESPN and Amazon are opening up a two-way ‘Streit.
Long-time ESPN college football analyst and color commentator Kirk Herbstreit is sticking with football, but moving to the professional level. Per NBC’s Peter King, Herbstreit is slated to fill out the color commentary chair for Amazon’s new “Thursday Night Football” streaming package come 2022.
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The move, though, won’t affect Herbstreit’s better-known gig with ESPN, where he’s an analyst on “College GameDay” and color commentator along side Chris Fowler on ABC’s primetime broadcast each week.
Here’s why Herbstreit is able to pull double duty for Amazon this upcoming season.
Kirk Herbstreit on Amazon
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post recently reported that Herbstreit’s contract would allow him to call games on both the World Wide Leader (and its parent company, ABC) as well as somewhere outside of ESPN.
That fact opened the door for Amazon to jump in to secure his services as its lead analyst.
The language in the contract, though, could have led to some murky legal standing, per Marchand.
When dealing with someone of Herbstreit’s stature and with the budding rivalry between ESPN and Amazon, the language of the contract could potentially be looked at differently by lawyers. It could be disputed if ESPN has to allow Herbstreit to work for Amazon.
With the deal reportedly done, it appears the contract will not be an issue.
In 2020, Herbstreit called his first NFL game alongside Fowler before landing the job with Amazon. The online retail — and now streaming — empire was spurned by Rams coach Sean McVay, Fox’s Troy Aikman and 49ers GM John Lynch for their lead analyst role.
It’s unclear who will call play-by-play alongside Herbstreit. NBC’s Al Michaels has been the consistent rumored addition to the booth, but negotiations between the two sides have seemingly gone cold in recent weeks.
Herbstreit called a “Monday Night Football” matchup in 2020 as well as one in 2021.
Herbstreit is a former quarterback for Ohio State, playing with the Buckeyes between 1989 and 1993, starting just a single season as a senior.
He did not play in the NFL, nor has he had an NFL analyst job while being in the media sphere since 1997.
Kirk Herbstreit contract details
Apparently, though, it still pays to be a quarterback.
Marchand reports that ESPN is paying Herbstreit around $6 million per year for his talents.
Numbers on Herbstreit’s Amazon deal are still unknown.