Behind the Mic: Tony Romo Secures $17 Million Per Year Bag; NBC Derails ESPN's MNF Dream Team of Michaels, Manning By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - 9:40 am
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Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, CBS Sports awards its prized NFL analyst, ESPN's pipedream for Monday Night Football takes a massive hit, the commentary teams for March Madness are announced, and a Baseball Hall of Famer joins ESPN.
Tony Romo is officially the highest-paid analyst in sports broadcasting. In an announcement made at the beginning of March, CBS Sports reached a long-term extension with the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback to the tune of $17 million per year until the deal expires in 10 years. Despite ESPN's best efforts to poach Romo for their Monday Night Football broadcasts, he'll stay put with CBS.
After 14 years in the NFL, Romo was hired by the network in 2017 and has become a notable face in the booth on Sundays alongside acclaimed play-by-play man Jim Nantz
In other football news, ESPN responded to the Romo news with its own grandiose move by attempting to pair NBC Sports' Al Michaels with free-agent football talent Peyton Manning. Reported last week by The New York Post, the four-letter network would have to propose a trade in order to obtain Michaels, who is still under contract with NBC. The hypothetical duo of Michaels and Manning would pair two of the greats in their own respective industries.
In a new development, The New York Post now is reporting that the proposal offered by ESPN has been declined by NBC. The contract that Michaels is under is set to expire in two seasons, with the long-anticipated Mike Tirico waiting in the wings to return to the NFL broadcast booth on a long-term basis since his time calling games on Monday Night Football for ESPN
Turner Sports and CBS Sports will once again feature a marquee lineup of announcers for their 10th year of combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. All 67 games from the 2020 NCAA Tournament will be televised across four national television networks - TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV - and via NCAA March Madness Live, beginning Tuesday, March 17, with the NCAA First Four on truTV.
This year's NCAA Final Four National Semifinals on Saturday, April 4, and National Championship on Monday, April 6, from Atlanta will be called by Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery, and reporter Tracy Wolfson on TBS, with TeamCast presentations returning on TNT and truTV. Gene Steratore will return as rules analyst throughout the Tournament.
New commentator roles for this year's coverage will include:
Dwyane Wade joining studio coverage from Atlanta for the Final Four and National Championship
Wally Szczerbiak moving into a game analyst role through the Tournament's first weekend
Adam Zucker hosting the Atlanta studio show for the first week of Tournament action
Lauren Shehadi serving as a game reporter through the Round of 32
Adam Lefkoe joining televised coverage for the first time, providing game updates from New York.
Ernie Johnson and Greg Gumbel will again host studio coverage from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York during the first full week of the tournament, joined by Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, and Kenny Smith. Johnson will host studio coverage from Atlanta during the second week of tournament action on Thursday and Friday, while Gumbel will anchor coverage from CBS Studios. Studio coverage originating from Turner Studios in Atlanta, hosted by Zucker during the first week, will feature Brendan Haywood, Seth Davis, Candace Parker, and college coaches to be announced. Lefkoe will provide game updates.
Following is the complete list of announcer pairings:
Nantz/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson
Brian Anderson/Chris Webber/Allie LaForce
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Jamie Erdahl
Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Dana Jacobson
Brad Nessler/Jim Jackson/Evan Washburn
Spero Dedes/Steve Smith/Szczerbiak/Lisa Byington
Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Shehadi
Carter Blackburn/Debbie Antonelli/John Schriffen
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones has joined ESPN to serve as a Major League Baseball analyst. The World Series Champion and eight-time MLB All-Star will debut as part of ESPN's Opening Day coverage on Thursday, March 26, as the game analyst for the San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers telecast at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Jones will primarily serve as an ESPN MLB game analyst, contributing to Opening Day, weeknight baseball, and Holiday Baseball coverage. In addition to his Opening Day assignment, Jones will be in the ESPN booth for two more opening week games: the New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays telecast on Monday, March 30, at 7 p.m. ET and the World Series Champion Washington Nationals home-opener on Thursday, April 2, at 1 p.m. when they host the New York Mets. He previously made two appearances as a guest analyst for ESPN in 2019
Announced a few weeks ago via social card and the Houston Chronicle, SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm has signed a new, multi-year contract to remain with ESPN
Golf Channel's Golf Central Live outlined its plans for the 2020 golf season, beginning at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course with Golf Central Live From THE PLAYERS (Monday-Sunday, March 9-15). Among the new elements slated for the program this year, five-time LPGA Tour winner (and major champion) Michelle Wie West will join the program as a contributing analyst. Additionally, Golf Channel analyst Justin Leonard (12-time PGA TOUR winner and major champion) will transition to show's primetime telecasts, beginning at THE PLAYERS.
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Behind the Mic: Tony Romo Secures $17 Million Per Year Bag; NBC Derails ESPN's MNF Dream Team of Michaels, Manning By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
