ESPN announces its new broadcast booth for 'Monday Night Football'
ESPN's Steve Levy on July 31, 2019. Credit: ESPN Images/Joe Faraoni
ESPN announced on Monday that its new “Monday Night Football” announcing team will feature Steve Levy on play-by-play, with Brian Griese and Louis Riddick as analysts and Lisa Salters as sideline reporter.
The assignment represents a career highlight for Levy, an alumnus of Bellmore JFK High School, who when assigned one Monday night game last year for ESPN’s opening night doubleheader said this in an interview with Newsday:
“This is something I’ve very much wanted. I’ve been sort of pigeonholed as a hockey guy, but you have to look at the inventory ESPN has. When I got there, we had hockey . . . When people ask, ‘What was the dream job?’ it was never to do the NHL. It wasn’t. It was always ‘Monday Night Football.’ ”
Now the dream will be realized weekly rather than as a one-off. Levy, who is in his 28th year at ESPN, and his booth partners will succeed Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland.
The new team is scheduled to debut in the second game of ESPN’s Sept. 14 opening doubleheader, when the Titans visit the Broncos.
ESPN’s lead college football team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will make its NFL debut in the first game of the doubleheader, when the Steelers visit the Giants.
Their college schedule for this season is uncertain given college football’s evolving response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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