Personally, if I controlled ESPN's money, I am not sure I would have opened the corporate checkbook to overhaul the Monday Night Football booth. Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick aren't must-see TV, but then again, no play-by-play booth is and that is okay. That isn't really the reason the pursuit of Troy Aikman surprises me though.

What does adding Aikman to the main Monday Night Football broadcast mean to the ManningCast? It was the darling of the broadcasting world last year. Even if the ratings weren't through the roof, the innovative alternate broadcast drew praise from fans and executives alike.

Eli Manning has been pretty clear. He and Peyton love what they are doing and are dedicated to the deal with ESPN. That doesn't mean they want to do more than the ten games per year they are currently contracted for. If you look at it that way, the move makes sense. ESPN is strengthening their approach for every at-bat and not just relying on the home run hitters to bolster Monday Night Football.

I might argue though that part of the reason the Manningcast had the success that it did and could receive the push on every single Disney platform that it did is that the executives did not have to justify a major investment in the main booth. When it is Levy, Griese, and Riddick, three guys that were already on the network payroll, calling games, there is no hesitation about promoting a competing product that could take away even a single viewer.

We know ESPN will be on the hook for $18 million per year with Troy Aikman alone. If the network lands Al Michaels too, that will likely mean another seven-figure salary on the books. If the rumor is true and Disney is focused on getting Joe Buck out of the final year of his FOX contract to join his partner in the Monday Night Booth, that would probably be an eight-figure annual salary. If you have upwards of $25 million per year invested in your people alone, how can the network justify telling people to go to ESPN2 or ESPN+ to watch the Mannings instead?

These decisions don't happen hastily. I am positive every decision maker at Disney, all the way up to Bob Chapek, evaluated the pros and cons of remaking ESPN's Monday Night Football booth. I am sure plenty of strategy meetings either have or will occur to make it all work.

One strategy that could make sense is to lean even further into the MegaCast model. The ManningCast is already the most successful alternate broadcast of any sort. Do you circle those ten dates Peyton and Eli are on TV and go all out in terms of promotion? It makes the most sense. Maybe you could utilize ESPN+ to create one or two more feeds to maximize the idea that these weeks are an especially big deal.

Joe Rose and Zach Krantz talked about Aikman's deal last week on WQAM. They made the point that if the day comes that Peyton Manning wants to move to the traditional Monday Night Football booth, ESPN would kick Troy Aikman to the curb in a second to make room.

It's a funny point and liekly true. Here's the thing though. That isn't going to happen.

Peyton Manning's owns Omaha Productions. ESPN's deal is with the company. That gives him the opportunity to do so much more than be a color commentator. He is creating whole blocks of programming for ESPN. Disney doesn't look at him as an analyst. It looks at him as The Mandalorian or Frozen. Peyton Manning is a franchise! Why would he give that up to call some garbage Week 11 game?

ESPN executives are going to figure out how to make this all work. There is no doubt in my mind.

Everyone at Disney knows the company has something special with the ManningCast. The fact that Jimmy Pitaro and his crew are pouring money into the primary Monday Night Football booth likely isn't a threat to Omaha Productions. It is a sign that ESPN wants to make the Monday night game feel like an event again. In 2022, you need multiple premier, innovative presentations to accomplish a goal like that.