Who are the NBC announcers for Super Bowl 56 between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals in SoFi Stadium? Additionally, could we be set to see one announcer in the booth for the final time, and why does the game in 2022 break with tradition by being on NBC instead of CBS?
Super Bowl 56 announcers
NBC broadcasting Super Bowl 56 means we will have the well-recognized announcer pairing of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on our television screens. Best known as the pairing who work Sunday Night Football during the season, the duo will call their fourth Super Bowl together in 2022.
They will be supported by a trio of Michele Tafoya, Kathryn Tappen, and Terry McAulay. Tafoya and Tappen will provide sideline coverage of the game, while McAulay will provide rules and officiating analysis.
Who will work the pregame and halftime presentations from NBC?
The NBC pregame and halftime crew supporting the announcers will remain the same for Super Bowl 56 as it has been all season. Mike Tirico, Maria Taylor, and Jac Collinsworth will handle hosting duties. Meanwhile, Tony Dungy, Drew Brees, Rodney Harrison, and Chris Simms will provide analysis. Tirico will also handle the trophy presentation after the game.
Will Super Bowl 56 be Al Michaels’ last time as part of the NBC announcers?
Michaels has called some of the biggest moments in American sporting history. He called the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and he’s been the voice of Sunday Night Football since 2006 and Monday Night Football for 20 years before that. Super Bowl LVI will be Michaels 11th in the booth, dating all the way back to Super Bowl XXII in 1988.
This is due to be Michaels’ final season in the booth for NBC. Tirico is expected to take over full-time play-by-play duties from 2022. Michaels does not currently have a contract with NBC beyond this year.
Even if he stays, he would likely only handle the occasional assignment, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas Day games. However, we could yet see Michaels in the booth elsewhere.
Amazon recently acquired the rights to Thursday Night Football and has not revealed their announcers yet. Consequently, we could hear Michaels for a few more years, just on Thursdays instead of Sundays.
Why does Super Bowl 56 break from tradition?
There has been a slight change in the past couple of years for the Super Bowl’s broadcast and announcer rotation. While Super Bowl LV was the first to break from tradition, Super Bowl LVI is the reason for the change. NBC was supposed to broadcast the game last year, with CBS handling duties in 2022.
However, the two broadcasters switched duties because of the Winter Olympics. By having the Super Bowl in 2022 on NBC, the NFL avoids having one of its broadcasters broadcast another sporting event to compete with the Super Bowl.
This is not the first time this has happened. In 1992, CBS was awarded the coverage of the Super Bowl when they had the Winter Olympics, with NBC broadcasting the game in both 1993 and 1994 as a result.
The addition of ABC back into the rotation from 2023 will prevent this from being an issue going forward. Instead, the NFL has scheduled it so that NBC is set to be the Super Bowl broadcaster in the same years as the Winter Olympics takes place (2026, 2030, and 2034). The 2022 Super Bowl will mark NBC’s 20th time broadcasting the game. Only CBS (21) has broadcast the game more often.