NBC announced on Thursday that they’ve tapped Maria Taylor to replace Mike Tirico as host of “Football Night in America,” the pre-show that airs before “Sunday Night Football.”
“Maria is the perfect choice to carry the legacy forward of anchoring the most-watched studio show in sports,” NBC Sports Executive Producer Sam Flood said in a statement.
“Football Night in America” needed a new lead after Mike Tirico, NBC’s ubiquitous sports host, was moved over to SNF play-by-play.
He’s taking the seat that had been occupied by Al Michaels, who decamped to Amazon’s Prime Video after NBC declined to renew his contract.
Taylor has been at NBC Sports since late July, just days after her contract with ESPN expired. Since then, she’s been very busy. In her first days at her new network, Taylor took on hosting duties for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In addition to that, Taylor has hosted the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and the Super Bowl LVI Pregame Show, and served as co-host of “Football Night in America” for the 2021 NFL season.