We’re on the verge of a new NFL season and while rosters have been settled, there are lots of new faces in new and old places – and that goes for on the field, too.
The way you’re likely to take in the NFL on television has completely changed since last February’s Super Bowl telecast, from where you see the games to who’s broadcasting them.
For Ravens fans, things will remain basically the same, in that most Baltimore Sunday afternoon games will air on WJZ-13, the CBS affiliate in town.
And CBS’ booth of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo was the only one of the major NFL carriers that didn’t change in the unprecedented upheaval that took place in the offseason, the first in a new 10-year deal across platforms.
Grab a sandwich and your remote and have a seat as we guide you through the wholesale differences you’re going to notice as you get ready for some football.
NBC: You’ll see the first big change as early as Thursday as has become the norm, NBC kickoffs the season with a telecast of the home opener of the reigning Super Bowl champs, in this case, the Los Angeles Rams, as they host the Buffalo Bills.
Right off the bat, you’ll notice the presence of Maria Taylor as the main host of “Football Night in America.” Taylor, who came over to NBC from ESPN during last year’s Olympics, becomes the first Black woman to lead an NFL telecast, after filling in for Mike Tirico, when he sat in for Al Michaels in the booth on his weeks off.
As Tirico takes over full-time for Michaels (more on that later), Taylor will serve as traffic cop for the pre-game show that leads into television’s most watched program, “Sunday Night Football.” She’ll be joined by former Dallas coach Jason Garrett, who replaces former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees.
Melissa Stark, who previously was sideline reporter for “Monday Night Football” on ABC, will patrol the sidelines for NBC.
NBC will use its Peacock platform to livestream games, but it will hardly be the only streaming service, as Amazon Prime and Paramount+, a service of CBS, will also carry games.
ESPN: The self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports” has struggled in recent years to maintain a consistent presence in its Monday night booth, since Tirico left the channel for NBC.
That should no longer be the case, as ESPN raided Fox, first grabbing analyst Troy Aikman, then getting his longtime booth partner Joe Buck to man Monday nights.
The latter move was stunning in that Buck jumped from the only network he had only known professionally, passing up the World Series, which he had called since 1996, and the Super Bowl, which he and Aikman worked together six times.
In the end, contracts reportedly valued at more than a combined nearly $170 million between them over five years were enough to pry Aikman and Buck away from their longtime home, though they will likely be in the fold when ESPN produces its first Super Bowl telecast in 2027.
Fox: With Aikman and Buck absconding for ESPN, Fox was left without an A-broadcast crew for the first time in 20 years.
The network responded by bumping Kevin Burkhardt from its No.2 team to the lead crew, and just in time for Fox’s turn in the Super Bowl rotation this year.
Burkhardt will call games this year, teamed with former tight end Greg Olson. Olson will be renting the No.1 analyst slot, not buying.
That’s because, at some point uncertain, Burkhardt, or some other golden throated guy, will work with Tom Brady, whom Fox locked up for future duty to 10 years and $375 million when he hangs up his cleats.
Brady’s deal is breathtaking in its size and scope, which is remarkable considering that no one knows whether he’ll be any good at calling football games.
Amazon: The league’s most startling television play comes in awarding its Thursday night package, which has bounced from network to network, to Amazon Prime.
For $1 billion annually, the giant retailer purchased a slate of exclusive nationally aired games that will be available to Amazon Prime and Prime Video account holders.
Just as with Monday night games on ESPN, the streaming cast will be offered to local TV stations in the home markets of the competing teams each week. That means Ravens fans will see the Oct. 27 game with Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a local station.
To lend familiarity and authenticity, Amazon pried Michaels, arguably the dean of NFL announcing, from NBC to call games, with Kirk Herbstreit, on loan from ESPN’s college football coverage, to join him as analyst. The service also plans to offer a non-football-centric treatment.
Viewers will also be able to start, watch or record the action from the beginning, as well as see real-time stats. If you have a Fire TV, you’ll be able to ask your set to show you specific things by speaking into your remote.
That kind of next level technology is at the core of a bidding skirmish between Amazon, Apple and Google for the rights to Sunday Ticket, which are expected to be relinquished by DirecTV after this season.
Sports Media Analyst
Milton Kent is a veteran of Baltimore and Maryland journalism. Kent began a long association with the Baltimore Sun in 1985, serving as the Evening Sun’s Howard County reporter for 2 ½ years before joining the paper’s features department as an entertainment writer in 1988. In the following year, Kent began covering men’s and women’s college basketball for the Evening Sun, concentrating on the Maryland men’s and women’s teams. He continued covering college basketball when the writing staffs of the Evening and Morning Suns merged in 1991. From there, he covered the Orioles for three seasons before becoming one of the nation’s first fulltime sports media critics for parts of six years. In 2000, he began covering the NBA until 2004, when he launched a high school sports column, which he wrote until he left the Sun in 2008. Kent joined the staff of AOL Fanhouse, an online sports operation in 2009, covering sports media and women’s basketball, until operations ceased in 2011. He then joined the faculty at Morgan State University in the fall of 2011, where he has taught until the present day. In addition to writing for various platforms, including Sports Illustrated.com and TV Guide, Kent has hosted “Sports At Large,” a weekly commentary program airing on WYPR (88.1 FM) since 2002.