It looks like the awkward television battle between the NFL and NBC is over.
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When Mike Tirico jumped ship from ESPN to NBC last year, it was expected that Tirico would be one of the lead workers for NBC's NFL coverage. Tirico was expected to do play-by-play for the newly branded Thursday Night Football on NBC, but that move was vetoed by the NFL, who wanted Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth — the company's "lead" broadcast team — instead.
Now, it looks like the NFL has backed off of the demand, as the Sports Business Journal is reporting that Tirico will finally assume full play-by-play roles for Thursday Night Football this upcoming season.
From the NFL's statement on the matter, via Sports Business Journal:
"Although there have been a number of changes in the networks' broadcast booths over the past couple of seasons, our priority, and the priority of our network partners remains the same - produce a high quality, engaging broadcast that our fans love whether its Thursday, Sunday or Monday. For 'TNF,' we get that with Mike Tirico, a terrific broadcaster, and Cris Collinsworth at NBC and the new team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo at CBS."
Tirico has been in broadcasting for over 25 years, calling the NFL, college football, the NBA, golf, and most recently, the Olympics with NBC.
