MICHAELS, HERBSTREIT TO CALL PRIME VIDEO’S NFL PACKAGE
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be the announcing team when Prime Video takes over the “Thursday Night Football” package in September.
Michaels moves to Prime from NBC. His contract with NBC ended last month after he was in the booth for his 11th Super Bowl.
“This is the new frontier in sports television and to be a part of the launch at this point in my career is both exciting and stimulating,” Michaels said in a statement.
Herbstreit, who has been with ESPN since 1996, will remain the network’s lead college football analyst and do NFL games for Prime. ESPN also announced Wednesday that Herbstreit had signed a multiyear extension.
NCAA men’s, women’s tourneys see double- digit TV gains.
INDIANAPOLIS » The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are seeing double-digit viewer increases over last year. The men’s tournament is up 12% over last year. The tournament is also off to its best start in five years, averaging 9.12 million viewers through the second round on TBS, CBS, TNT & trutv.
The women’s tournament on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPNU and ESPnews is up 15% overall through the first two rounds. The second round averaged 474,000 viewers, a 25% jump from last year.
Azteca FC falls in U.S. Open Cup.
Azteca FC, Colorado’s top amateur soccer team, put up a valiant fight in Wednesday’s first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup but ran out of gas in a 3-0 loss to fourth-division side Tulsa Athletic. Azteca was tough to break down defensively despite conceding a goal in the 25th minute, but Tulsa scored twice in the final 15 minutes to seal the win.
NYC to allow unvaccinated athletes play home games.
NEW YORK » New York City Mayor Eric Adams will announce Thursday that he’s exempting athletes and performers from the city’s vaccine mandate for private workers, a move that will allow Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play home games and unvaccinated baseball players to take the field when their season begins.
NHL voids Knights-ducks Dadonov deal.
The NHL scrapped the trade of winger Evgenii Dadonov from Vegas to Anaheim over his no-trade list in an embarrassing end to a saga that dragged on more than 48 hours past the deadline and left the Golden Knights in a salary cap bind as they fight for a playoff spot. The league voided the deal and said Dadonov’s limited no-trade clause “had not been complied with.”
UNC Wilmington beats MTSU for CBI title.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. » Mike Okauru scored 11 of his 28 points in the two overtime periods, Jaylen Sims also finished with 28 points and UNC Wilmington beat Middle Tennessee 96-90 in the College Basketball Invitational championship game.
Super Bowl hero Butler to return to Pats.
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. » Cornerback Malcolm Butler, the hero of the New England Patriots’ 2014 Super Bowl victory with his goal-line interception of Russell Wilson, agreed to a two-year deal with the Pats worth up to $9 million, his agent confirmed. Butler, 32, sat out the 2021 season for personal reasons.
49ers re- sign Willis to 1-year deal.
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. » The San Francisco 49ers re-signed free agent defensive lineman Jordan Willis to a oneyear contract. Willis had 5K sacks with 28 tackles and one forced fumble in 17 games for San Francisco over the past two seasons.
Guardians, Shaw agree to terms.
GOODYEAR, ARIZ. » Bryan Shaw’s making his way back to Cleveland’s bullpen.the one-time Colorado Rockies reliever, who led the majors with 81 appearances last season in Cleveland, agreed Wednesday to terms on a oneyear contract with the Guardians.