Louis Riddick MNF Announcer Booth

Riddick and Orlovsky Favored To Be Next Hire For Monday Night Football

After another frustrating season of Monday Night Football games with Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland in the announcing booth, it seems ESPN is ready to make another change and NFL analysts Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky are co-favorites to move up to the high-profile gig.

The best football betting sites have Riddick and Orlovsky each at +225 to take the MNF slot as color commentator after the Disney Corporation made a huge push to steal Tony Romo away from CBS. Since he re-upped with ESPN’s broadcasting rival, rumors have been swirling about which way the company will proceed.

Following Riddick/Orlovsky on the oddsboard is everyone’s favorite punter Pat McAfee at +300, sharing those odds with Steve Levy. The longtime anchor of SportsCenter has been a mainstay on the network for years and currently calls college football games on ESPN.

Since this prop is open to both announcers and color commentators for the MNF booth, there’s a lot of options below from [Sportsbook not available for your region] and it’s a who’s who of the broadcast world.

Here are the full odds for who will be in the Monday Night Football booth for the 2020 NFL season:

Who Will Be Announcing Monday Night Football for ESPN for Game 1 of 2020 NFL Season?
AnnouncerOdds
Louis Riddick+225
Dan Orlovsky+225
Pat McAfee+300
Steve Levy+300
Kurt Warner+550
Peyton Manning+650
Matt Hasselbeck+950
Adam Amin+1200
Dave Pasch+1200
Jason Benetti+1200
Bob Wischusen+1200
Dan Schulman+1200
Mike Breen+1200
Ian Eagle+1600
Kevin Burkhardt+1600
Philip Rivers+2000
Chris Fowler+2000
Kirk Herbstreit+2000
John Madden+7000

Odds as of May 12 at [Sportsbook not available for your region]

Why Riddick/Orlovsky Are the Faves

As Booger McFarland would likely say, “In order for ESPN to have a new play-by-play analyst, they’ll need to hire someone.” So, let’s take Boog’s advice and dive into why Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky are the favorites to move into the Monday Night Football booth.

Starting with Riddick, the man knows football and has a way of conveying his knowledge that doesn’t seem condescending or belittle someone’s intelligence. Riddick has been a mainstay on NFL shows on ESPN since he joined the network in 2013 and was the former director of player personnel for both the Redskins and Eagles. That front-office background was featured heavily during the recent NFL draft as he offered his provocative thoughts on certain players transitioning to the league.

He seems like a logical choice for color commentator on Monday Night Football but don’t count out Dan Orlovsky. The former NFL quarterback has made his mark on ESPN morning shows like “Get Up” or “First Take” with his insight on the game’s most important position and ability to trade barbs with some of the best talking heads in the business.

Unfortunately, many people (like myself) only remember Orlovsky for this brain fart as a quarterback with the Detroit Lions when he ran out of the back of the end zone. It’s still cringeworthy to this day:

Why ESPN Moved on From Boog and Tess

Look, I’m sure Tess and Boog are nice people but I think I speak for a lot of viewers in saying they had some announcer shortcomings that were too hard to ignore.

Tess got waaaay too excited over monotonous plays in a football game while Boog has an awful habit of saying the most obvious thing that makes it seem like he lacks intelligence (which he doesn’t).

Here are some examples of Boog-isms just from this past NFL season:

“This is a win-or-go-home game” during the Bills-Texans wild-card playoff game. He also hilariously said during that game that the Bills should run a draw play on third-and-10 and then spike it.

“The Minneapolis Miracle was one of the worst things to ever happen to the Vikings,” he said in reference to the playoff game three seasons ago between the Saints and Vikings that Minnesota won on a Hail Mary.

While this stuff may be hysterical to someone like me, I can’t imagine ESPN likes being made the butt of a joke during a nationally televised game. 

ESPN Has Wealth of Talent on Roster

Although there are some very talented announcers and color commentators on this list, it would seem ESPN is planning to promote from within based on recent reports. 

That’s why announcers like Kurt Warner or Ian Eagle, for example, may not be the best options to bet on because they would need to be bought out of their current contracts with NFL Network or CBS, respectively.

ESPN would do backflips if it could get Peyton Manning in the booth after courting him in 2018, but Manning seems to be content doing the NFL features for ESPN.com and making bank while singing “Chicken parm tastes so good.”

The only option that stands out is Pat McAfee at +300. The former punter of the Indianapolis Colts has been featured heavily on ESPN’s College Gameday and may be able to bring in a younger demographic to the main stage that the broadcaster craves.

However, even McAfee doesn’t like his chances:


Reading MNF Announcer Prop Odds

At any football betting sites, you’ll see Monday Night Football Announcer prop odds laid out like this:

Louis Riddick +225

Dan Orlovsky +225

Pat McAfee +300

If you think Riddick will be the one selected and you bet $100, you’d get a payout of $325 – you get your original money back along with your winnings of $225. Conversely, if you believe McAfee is the way to go and you bet that same $100, you would get a payout of $400 – your original $100 would be returned and you’d have a profit of $300. 

Our Odds Calculator is a tool that will show you what you’d win based on the amount you bet and odds offered.

What is a Prop Bet?

prop is a bet on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain outcomes that may not necessarily determine the outcome of the football game. You can make a bet like this as soon as the odds are announced. Oddsmakers will move the lines as news comes out and adjust them based on recent news. If you see odds you like, place your bet immediately, otherwise, the action could move so much that you may miss out on a more advantageous line to make a profit.

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