Legendary Broadcaster Will Continue to Contribute Across NBC Sports’ High-Profile Properties Including NFL Playoffs and Olympics
STAMFORD, Conn. – May 24, 2022 – Iconic broadcaster Al Michaels, who joined NBC Sports in 2006 as the play-by-play voice of Sunday Night Football and played an integral role in the show becoming among the most-watched and most-honored shows in television history, today was named to an emeritus role by NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua.
Michaels will continue to broadcast and contribute across NBC Sports’ high-profile properties, including the NFL Playoffs and the Olympics.
“Revered by viewers and colleagues, Al has been the soundtrack for many of the greatest moments in sports television history,” said Bevacqua. “We are thrilled that he’s staying in the family and raising the stature of our events for years to come.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing my longtime NBC relationship while also launching the Thursday Night Football package on Amazon this fall. A special thanks to NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua and the folks at NBCUniversal for their help in making this happen,” Michaels said.
One of the most renowned sports broadcasters of all time and the commentator called “TV’s best play-by-play announcer” by the Associated Press, Michaels earlier this year completed his 16th season as the voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Football – primetime’s #1 TV show for an unprecedented 11 consecutive years. In addition, SNF has been honored a Sports Emmy-record 11 times for Outstanding Live Sports Series.
This season, Michaels will call Thursday Night Football for Amazon Prime Video – his record 37th NFL play-by-play campaign in primetime.
In February, Michaels called his 11th Super Bowl – marking the most play-by-play assignments for the event by a television commentator, joining former CBS and FOX announcer Pat Summerall (11).
More than four decades earlier, Michaels made what is widely considered the most iconic call in U.S. sports television history – “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” – on the U.S. men’s hockey team’s dramatic upset victory over the USSR at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
Following another historic broadcasting moment in which Michaels deftly demonstrated his expertise and versatility, he became just the second sportscaster in history to receive a News Emmy nomination for his coverage of the San Francisco earthquake during the 1989 World Series.
In addition to the 11 Super Bowls, Michaels has worked nine Olympics and called eight World Series.
In December 2020, Michaels was honored with the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Michaels is one of only five distinguished broadcasters to be recognized with the baseball honor and the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Award (Dick Enberg, Lindsey Nelson, Jack Buck, and Curt Gowdy).
One of television’s most respected journalists, Michaels has covered more major sports events than any sportscaster, including 20 years as the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football. He is the only commentator to call the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and host the Stanley Cup Final for network television. In addition, Michaels called the classic 1985 championship boxing match between Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns and “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler.
Among his many accolades, Michaels has captured eight Emmy Awards – seven for Outstanding Sports Personality – Play-by-Play and one in 2011 for the Lifetime Achievement Award, and has three times (1980, 1983 and 1986) received the NSSA Award from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association; he was inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame in 1998. Michaels was named Sportscaster of the Year in 1996 by the American Sportscasters Association, and, in 1991, he was named Sportscaster of the Year by the Washington Journalism Review.
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