Starting in 2022, Amazon will take over the NFL’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts. Although we’re several months away from Amazon’s first Thursday Night Football broadcast, it appears the company has its sights set on a very popular color commentator.
According to Mike McCarthy of Front Office Sports, Amazon is targeting Troy Aikman as its lead analyst for its Thursday night broadcasts.
Not only does Amazon want Aikman to be its lead analyst, it reportedly wants Al Michaels to join him so they can form a “TNF dream team.” That would be quite a duo say the least.
“Al Michaels and Troy Aikman would make one of the greatest pairings in sports broadcasting history,” Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade said.
Al Michaels and Troy Aikman would make one of the greatest pairings in sports broadcasting history. https://t.co/moEptKUGuT
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) November 16, 2021
Aikman and Michaels have decades of experience in the broadcast booth, so landing both of them would be a huge win for Amazon. It would also allow Amazon to appeal to the traditional fans who are accustomed to watching games on TV.
“Streaming sports are still clearly in their ‘skeuomorphic’ era—recreating the familiar in a new place,” Jacob Feldman of Sportico tweeted. “It’s a sensible first step to satisfy leagues and traditional fans before getting truly revolutionary.”
Streaming sports are still clearly in their ‘skeuomorphic’ era—recreating the familiar in a new place. It’s a sensible first step to satisfy leagues and traditional fans before getting truly revolutionary. https://t.co/3oRIrZgunQ
— ✏️Jacob Feldman (@JacobFeldman4) November 16, 2021
While the idea of a “TNF dream team” sounds interesting, there are some fans who want Aikman to stick with FOX and call games with Joe Buck.
Troy Aikman is not going @amazon . He should stay with the @NFLonFOX .
— Matt Layden (@MattLayden1) November 16, 2021
Aikman has been broadcast partners with Buck since 2002. They’ve called six Super Bowl togethers and are arguably the best duo in the business at the moment.
It’ll be interesting to see how this situation plays out, especially if Amazon finds a way to land Aikman and Michaels.
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