Al Michaels says he ‘wasn’t allowed to’ talk Super Bowl XXIX spread

A fascinating part of NFL broadcasting over the years has been the league’s relationship with gambling, and specifically the way its broadcasters are allowed (or not allowed) to discuss gambling. Betting on NFL games has long been a thing, even long before that was legal in most jurisdictions, and so have been some levels of discussion of that, going back to Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder on CBS’ The NFL Today and beyond. But until recently, the announcers actually calling games have been largely prohibited from explicitly referencing gambling information such as point spreads and over-unders.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped all of that discussion. And announcers such as Al Michaels, the current play-by-play voice for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, have long been discussed for their ability to work in sly spread references even in an era where that wasn’t widely permissible.

Michaels himself discussed that a bit in conversation with analyst Kirk Herbstreit on the TNF Broncos-Chargers game this week. There, Michaels talked about how the Chargers “almost covered” in the one Super Bowl they went to (Super Bowl XXIX in 1995, which they lost by 23 points). Herbstreit then noted that Michaels probably couldn’t say that then, and Michaels agreed and said he explicitly “wasn’t allowed to” talk about the spread that way:

“Chargers have been one to Super Bowl (49ers won 49-26)… At the end of the game, and I did that game, the Chargers almost covered… It was an 18-point spread.” – Al Michaels

“You weren’t talking about that at all were you?” – Kirk

“At that point, I wasn’t allowed to.” – Al pic.twitter.com/Pk5ZVBmz4Q

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 20, 2024

Michaels was still able to work some subtle spread references in towards the end of that Super Bowl XXIX broadcast, which shouldn’t be surprising to those who have followed his commentary over the years. Indeed, it’s maybe most surprising that Michaels has continued to be a little veiled with his references even in this current age of gambling legalization.

But it’s interesting to hear this particular discussion for Michaels’ specific confirmation that the early veiled references were based on what he was and wasn’t “allowed” to say. And it’s notable that he can now openly talk about the spread on the air when he wants to. And it’s worth noting that in lopsided games, such as that Super Bowl XXIX, much of any viewing interest that does remain late is about if a team will cover or not. So there’s some merit to the announcers being able to actually discuss that, as they are now, but weren’t when Michaels called that game.

[Awful Announcing on X]