1. When several high-profile NFL broadcasters landed monster contracts last offseason (triggered by Tony Romo getting an extra monster contract in 2020), a debate started about the importance and value of game announcers.
CBS’s Greg Gumbel made headlines in March when he appeared with me on the SI Media Podcast and said, “What does tickle my thought process is, I’ve never felt in my entire life there is an announcer who can bring someone to the TV set to watch a game that that viewer wasn’t already going to watch. And I believe the only thing a broadcaster can do is chase people away.”
Gumbel later added, “People have said to me, ‘Oh, Al [Michaels] and Cris [Collinsworth] did a great job on Sunday night.’ Yeah, they always do a great job. However, they do the best game of the week.”
