It seems as though Al Michaels’ move to NBC was just a bit more complicated than ESPN allowing him out of his contract. From the Associated Press.
In exchange for letting Michaels out of his contract with ABC and ESPN, which are owned by The Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal sold ESPN cable rights to Friday coverage of the next four Ryder Cups, granted ESPN increased usage of Olympic highlights and sold to The Walt Disney Co. the rights to “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,” a character in silent cartoons made by Walt Disney from 1927-28.
This is one heck of a throw-in. We can only hope that when and if Colin Cowherd finds himself coveted by NBC Universal for a TV project (perhaps as the love interest in the Widow Cobain’s long-awaited sitcom debut), the Peacock Network will hand over something nearly as valuable from their vast archives. Say, an autographed photo of Michael Gross, or a bag of Randy Mantooth’s pubic hair.