Mike Tirico Leaving ESPN For NBC Sports Per Report
By Ty Duffy
Sports Business Daily is reporting that ESPN Monday Night Football host Mike Tirico is leaving to join NBC Sports.
"Mike Tirico, one of ESPN’s best known on-air voices, is leaving the network for NBC, according to several sources. Tirico has been a mainstay with ESPN since ’91, and given his many roles at ESPN, he will be an incredibly difficult talent to replace. Tirico has been ESPN’s on-air face of the NFL, serving as the lead play-by-play announcer for “MNF” since ’06. A source says that Sean McDonough, who recently renewed his deal with ESPN, is a leading candidate to replace Tirico on “MNF,” though no decision has been made yet. NBC would not comment on the move, with a spokesperson saying that the net does not comment on people under contract with another outlet."
Ryan Glasspiegel mentioned the offer in a column last week.
How will NBC Sports deploy Tirico? It’s not clear there’s a defined role for him now. He’s the obvious favorite to replace Al Michaels on Sunday Night Football after the 2017 season. Bob Costas will need to be replaced on Olympic coverage at some point (Tirico and Costas are repped by the same agent). SBD also mentioned a role in golf coverage.
ESPN is left with a huge decision, losing a versatile announcer and one of the faces of its $15 billion Monday Night Football enterprise.