Confirming a report from earlier in July, Amazon today announced Kaylee Hartung is returning to sports as the Thursday Night Football sideline reporter.
CNN’s Oliver Darcy first reported the news a few weeks ago, and Hartung’s name had been floated by others as well. In addition to Hartung, Amazon also confirmed that Aqib Talib and Andrew Whitworth are joining as studio analysts.
Hartung last worked for ESPN in 2017, leaving for CNN and the world of news reporting. Hartung addressed the news with a few tweets:
Back to the sidelines!! Here we go @NFLonPrime!! https://t.co/QA5VQMmjam
— Kaylee Hartung (@KayleeHartung) July 21, 2022
Couldn’t ask for a better crew! Cannot wait! https://t.co/aM8QiKoqFx
— Kaylee Hartung (@KayleeHartung) July 21, 2022
Amazon’s official statement trumpeted Hartung’s credentials while also welcoming Talib and Whitworth to the growing crew:
“We are thrilled to announce these new additions to our Thursday Night Football team. Kaylee Hartung will bring her world-class reporting skills to our game coverage every Thursday and Super Bowl winning Pro Bowlers Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib are proven champions who will bring their unique insights to our NFL coverage every week,” said Marie Donoghue, Prime Video’s VP, Global Sports Video.
In addition, Amazon’s release mentions something that’s not a surprise to anyone following their staffing choices: more people are going to be joining.
Additional members of the TNF on-air team will be announced over the coming weeks.
It’s almost a threat, at this point! The potential for alternate broadcasts and rotating analysts is almost overwhelming, with Amazon seemingly approaching NFL broadcasting manifest destiny.
But chiefly it will be nice to see Hartung working sports broadcasts again. She’s obviously a gifted reporter and was always a welcome presence on ESPN’s networks. The NFL season is, somehow, less than two months away at this point, so we’ll start getting our first looks at just how Amazon plans on piecing all of these crewmembers together.
[Amazon]
