He’s the lead analyst for ESPN’s “College GameDay”, but could he soon be calling professional games? According to reports, it sure looks like that’s a possibility.
Amazon has attempted to lure the likes of Troy Aikman, who decided to join ESPN from Fox with a massive contract to the tune of five years and $90 million. They also had their eyes on San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch moving into their booth for the upcoming season, though he declined and is remaining in his current role. They were even linked to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, who stated earlier in the week that there’s no chance (yet) of his leaving the sidelines despite the reported offer of five years and $100 million.
According to the New York Post, Amazon is eyeing none other than Kirk Herbstreit for their NFL Thursday night game analyst spot.
After trying to lure Troy Aikman, Amazon is now eyeing ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit as its Thursday Night Football analyst, per @nypost. pic.twitter.com/aAAvMsE5y3
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) February 27, 2022
However, per his contract, he’d still be able to work in his current capacity while calling games for another entity. According to the NNew York Post:
“Now, The Post has learned, Amazon is eyeing the biggest analyst in college football, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, for its lead NFL Thursday night game analyst spot.
Herbstreit is the analyst ESPN’s iconic “College GameDay” show revolves around and he is the network’s No. 1 college game analyst, including calling the national championship game.
While Herbstreit is under contract with ESPN for around $6-plus million per year, sources have told The Post that with the way his deal is written, he would be allowed to do the NFL with another entity, while continuing on college for ESPN.”
Thursday night games will now exclusively be shown on Amazon Prime Video for the upcoming season, and the outlet certainly wants to kick things off the right way with a major name broadcasting the events.
