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You’d be surprised how many people play “Fantasy On-Air Staffing” in the sports media business. I know of one prominent ESPN-er who for fun would staff the company’s on-air talent if ESPN ever acquired the Olympic Games. (Since he’s already called Olympic basketball many times, put me down for Mike Breen broadcasting Olympic track as a change up. “Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins the 400-meter hurdles … Bang!”)
As part of a query for reader questions a couple of weeks ago — read Part 1 of the media mailbag here and Part 2 here — I received a notable question from a reader named Joshua B.:
The year is 2030. Who are the lead play-by-play and color commentators for NFL coverage on Amazon, CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC? In other words, are there any up-and-coming play-by-play announcers and game analysts, current players or coaches that will shoot up to the top?
Joshua’s question seemed like a fun exercise, so I thought I’d play it out in column form. Feel free to offer your thoughts in the comments.
First, 2030 isn’t that far away, and the NFL is currently at the beginning of new agreements with its media partners that started with the 2023 season and run through the 2033 season. There is a big caveat with the deal — the NFL can opt out of the deals with NBC, CBS, Fox and Amazon after seven years (the 2029 season) and Disney/ESPN the following year. You’d have to think the NFL will do that, so we can’t say firmly the carriers in 2030 will be the exact same ones as they are today. (I’d bet big Netflix gets in more fully in 2030.)
With the big-picture contractual situation noted above, I took a shot at how the top NFL booths might look in 2030 based on the reality of contracts, ages and just my own fun:
Fox: Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen
ABC/ESPN: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman
CBS: Jim Nantz and Tony Romo
NBC: Mike Tirico and Mike Tomlin
Amazon: Ian Eagle and Sean McVay
Netflix: Adam Amin and Travis Kelce
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Fox
My selection of Olsen is predicated on the theory that Tom Brady is gone from the booth long before 2030. As I wrote in my column in October about Brady’s TV future, the production restrictions around Brady’s participation “are unsustainable for the long haul, and Brady will depart the booth long before the end of his contract.”
Burkhardt’s bosses, Eric Shanks and Brad Zager, firmly see him as a No. 1 play-by-play voice and, at 50 years old, he’s a relative pup among the play-by-play names listed above. I think Olsen hangs out as Fox’s No. 2 analyst until Brady departs, and then Olsen and Burkhardt re-establish themselves firmly as Fox’s top NFL team.
ABC/ESPN
The easiest prediction of the thought exercise. In my opinion, Buck and Aikman are the best working broadcast team today, and their move to ESPN from Fox seems like it’s energized them. ESPN/ABC has the rights to Super Bowl LXV in 2031, and I can’t see any dramatic changes in the booth before that.
CBS
Had the date of the question been after 2030, I would predict a booth change. CBS has the rights to Super Bowl LXII in 2028, and I can’t see them blowing up Nantz and Romo before then given their contracts. I know CBS is very high on Matt Ryan, and it would not surprise me to see him as their No. 1 game analyst one day, but I’m sticking with Nantz and Romo — though I am far less sure of this than I am Buck and Aikman.
NBC
Now it gets interesting. Tirico is the face of the sports division and, at 57 years old, he’s not going to depart anytime soon. Current analyst Cris Collinsworth is nearly a decade older, and I could see Comcast/NBC wanting to try a new direction by 2030. NFL producers who are part of pre-game production meetings with coaches have spoken often about Tomlin, the current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, being a can’t-miss guy if he ever entered broadcasting, given his communication skills, transparency and pedigree.
Amazon has reportedly shown great interest in Sean McVay before. (Cindy Ord / Getty Images)
Amazon
My colleague Andrew Marchand reported in 2022 that Amazon Prime Video was high enough on McVay’s potential as a TV game analyst that an offer was being contemplated as high as five years and $100 million for an on-air role. McVay opted to return to coaching the Los Angeles Rams, but I think by 2030 he’s working in broadcasting, so Amazon seems like an obvious fit.
I’m placing Eagle here with the caveat that he’d be Nantz’s successor on CBS’ top NFL team should Nantz depart earlier and just focus on golf. Could Eagle work for both CBS (doing NCAA basketball) and Amazon (doing football and likely the NBA)? It’s a much more possible scenario in 2030 than 2024.
Netflix
It’s simply hard to see a scenario where Netflix does not have an NFL package of games in the 2030s. Kelce’s name recognition has exponentially increased thanks to a woman named Taylor Swift (USA Today boldly proclaimed this week that “The Kelces are the new royal family of media”), and he co-hosts one of the most popular podcasts in America. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is clearly interested in content creation in a post-NFL life (the dude is currently hosting a game show), and networks will line up to bring him on board. Netflix also loves the crossover with celebrities given the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul promotion and other sports-adjacent products.
Would Kelce be good as a game analyst? Who knows? But he will get a job if he wants one, and so we slot him here. Amin is a quality broadcaster no matter the assignment and is currently calling NFL games for Fox with Mark Sanchez. Let’s just hope Amin and Kelce’s broadcast has no buffering or streaming issues.
(Top photo of Travis Kelce: Chris Delmas / AFP)
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