Booger McFarland and Joe Tessitore Score an ‘F’ as the NFL’s Lowest-Rated Broadcast Team
Amongst the uncertainty of the upcoming season is who will be in the announcing booth for Monday Night Football. ESPN has decided to reassign the current broadcasting team of Booger McFarland and Joe Tessitore. After constant viewer criticism and low ratings, the media giant is ready for a change. At this point, it is unclear who will take over.
Awful Announcing recently released the results from its annual survey for the best and worst NFL broadcasting teams of the year. Fans unanimously agreed that Tessitore and McFarland belonged at the very bottom of the pack.
Awful Announcing’s survey
NFL broadcasting teams have become an integral part of the football-watching experience. Color commentary keeps fans vested in the game, and the announcers’ enthusiasm is often contagious. Their outlandish reviews of the highlight reels can be infuriating while other times almost poetic.
For the past two years, Awful Announcing has rated regular NFL sports commentators. They send out a survey asking subscribers to pick the best broadcasting team. Readers assign a grade of A for the best team all the way down to F for the worst team. When voting is complete, each crew receives four points for an A, three points for a B, two points for C, one point for a D, and zero for an F. The grade is assigned to the crew as a whole, not individually.
Fans rate each pair of announcers based on the information provided, how easy it is to understand them, and their overall likeability. Readers are advised to consider how well the play-by-play broadcaster and analyst work together as a team. This year, Awful Announcing received 48,000 votes for the NFL survey.
How Booger McFarland and Joe Tessitore ranked
Coming in dead last on the Awful Announcing survey is the ESPN broadcasting team of Tessitore and McFarland. Close to 35 percent of the Awful Announcing voters gave this duo dud an overall grade of F. They received the lowest amount of A and B grades and were the only two to have 80 percent of voters rate them with a grade of C or lower.
Fans never warmed up to McFarland and Tessitore. Whether it was Booger’s freakish fingers or his unfathomable way of skewing facts, he quickly became the laughingstock of the league. Monday Night Football became known for the meme-able moments with announcers that were referred to as a joke. Executives knew it was time to make a much-needed change.
After only one season together, both men still have existing contracts so will take on new roles with the broadcasting company. Tessitore, who earns a $2.3 million annual salary with ESPN, will continue working as an announcer for boxing. He will also continue as the host of the ABC reality competition television series, Holey Moley.
It is unknown what role McFarland will play in the future of ESPN broadcasting, but it will most likely be in the studio and no longer in front of the camera. The former lineman has an estimated net worth of $9 million, and will continue to earn a $2 million annual salary.
Who is the NFL’s highest-rated broadcast team?
The dynamic team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo blew away the competition, with two-thirds of fans giving them an A vote in the Awful Announcing survey. ESPN tried their hardest to get Romo to take over the Monday Night Football spot, but he declined the offer and recently signed a new contract with CBS worth $18 million.
