No one knows how to make a subtle nod to sports bettors better than Al Michaels. He has been subtly referencing betting lines and plays that swing outcomes for years on NFL broadcasts. It is something that for years, made his calls unique. So how will he adjust to calling sports in a nation where references to sports gambling don’t have to be so subtle anymore?
Michaels is aware viewers know what he is doing and he isn’t ashamed of it. “I’ve had a lot of fun with this through the years, coming in a backdoor, a side door, whatever — different ways to use the English language — people know what I’m talking about.”
Michaels also added that because so many people know what he is talking about when he makes subtle gambling references, he doesn’t see any reason to make changes right now. He did acknowledge that the sports media environment around him and his Sunday Night Football broadcast will change, and he wonders what effect that will have. “But in the past when I would do this, it was almost as if the fans would think, ‘He’s not supposed to do it, but that’s kind of cool.’ Now it’s going to be out there.”
Fred Gaudelli, the Executive Producer of Sunday Night Football on NBC told Rick Maese of The Washington Post that he doesn’t expect their to be any change, citing the terms of the current agreement NBC has with the NFL. “At this point, we’re going to honor the deals and there won’t be any specific gambling messages on our air this year.”
Al Michaels is Al Michaels though, so Gaudelli admits that he can’t guarantee there will be no gambling talk on SNF. He said “late in the fourth quarter, I have a rascal up in the booth.”