NFL ends Eagles streak on NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football’
NBC announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth won't get a chance to call a Birds game this season, barring a late-season flex.
The 2021 NFL schedule has been released, and it’s pretty obvious the league doesn’t have much faith in the Eagles.
The Birds, who finished 4-11-1 last season and play in the nation’s fourth largest TV market, are scheduled to play in just two primetime games this year, the fewest since 2001. Each NFL team gets at least one primetime game every season.
The Eagles aren’t scheduled for a single Sunday Night Football game, ending a 12-year streak playing the Dallas Cowboys on NBC — the longest run for any matchup on the primetime broadcast package in NFL history, dating back to ABC in 1970. It’s the first time the Eagles aren’t scheduled to appear on Sunday Night Football since NBC took over the package in 2006 (though they could still get flexed in).
» READ MORE: 2021 Eagles schedule: Our beat writers analyze the season game-by-game and predict some surprises
Instead, Eagles-Cowboys moves over to ESPN, where it will air during Week 3 on Monday Night Football on Sept. 27. It’s the first NFC East game of the season for both teams, and will feature the first faceoff between Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott.
ESPN recently signed a new $2.7 billion per year rights deal with the NFL in March, and it’s paying off. The network landed games featuring every playoff team last season, and will air eight divisional contests, including Colts-Ravens in Week 5 on Oct. 11 — Carson Wentz’s first primetime game since being traded from the Eagles.
ESPN also landed two games on the Saturday of Week 18, which will simulcast on ABC. The network gave up its traditional Week 1 doubleheader, but will simulcast Week 1′s Ravens-Raiders game on ABC.
“You’ve got a great matchup. You’ve got a simulcast on ABC and ESPN. Then you’ve got the Raiders welcoming fans at Allegiant Stadium. All combined, that’s pretty impactful,” ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro told Sports Business Daily’s Jon Ourand.
» READ MORE: 2021 Eagles schedule: New coach Nick Sirianni, QB Jalen Hurts face a tough first six weeks
MLB: The Show whiffed in a big way on Mike Trout
Just a bit outside.
“MLB: The Show” has been the league exclusive baseball simulation game since 2014, earning high marks for its realism and gameplay. A few Phillies players have even graced its cover, including Ryan Howard and Bryce Harper.
But in 2011, the game whiffed on South Jersey native Mike Trout — 19-years-old at the time — with a scouting report that hasn’t aged well. The game graded Trout a “C” overall, giving him “F” grades in both contact and power.
“If he goes yard more than a half dozen times, be thankful,” the scouting report read. “Could be a decent regular. Nothing more.”
It wasn’t as if Trout was flying under the radar. Both ESPN’s Keith Law and MLB’s Jonathan Mayo ranked Trout No. 1 on their respective 2011 top prospects lists. And after his 2010 season, Trout was awarded the J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the minor league player of the year, the youngest player to ever win the award.
Of course, Trout has gone on to hit 310 home runs and earn three American League MVP awards during his 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. So it goes without saying to take those video game scouting reports with a big grain of salt.
Quick hits
Spike Eskin, the program director at Sportsradio 94.1 WIP, will be leaving Philadelphia in July to run parent company Audacy’s flagship station WFAN in New York City.
Longtime ESPN personality Kenny Mayne told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch the network wanted him to stay, but proposed a 61% pay cut. “I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me … I just think I can do better elsewhere,” Mayne said.
Amazon Prime will air 16 exclusive WNBA games per season and the new Commissioner’s Cup title game, the league announced on Wednesday. One game a week will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime, beginning on Saturday, May 29, with the Atlanta Dream taking on the New York Liberty.
NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky is mulling a jump into broadcasting with TNT when Turner begins airing hockey games next season, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, who reports that friend and current TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley is leading the network’s recruiting efforts.
ESPN is adding former Flyers goaltender and current NBC analyst Brian Boucher as it builds its own NHL broadcasting roster ahead of the sports return to the network next season, according to multiple reports.