Cris Collinsworth isn’t on Thursday Night Football because his TV contract and main broadcast role are with NBC’s Sunday Night Football , not with Amazon, which now holds exclusive rights to the Thursday-night package.

Who Has Thursday Night Football Now?

  • Since the 2022 season, Thursday Night Football has been an exclusive Amazon Prime Video property in the U.S., not an NBC (or traditional network) broadcast.
  • When Amazon won those rights, it built its own booth, pairing Al Michaels with Kirk Herbstreit as its primary on-air team.

Collinsworth’s Role With NBC

  • Cris Collinsworth stayed with NBC instead of following Al Michaels to Amazon, so he continues as NBC’s lead analyst on Sunday Night Football alongside play‑by‑play announcer Mike Tirico.
  • NBC retained Collinsworth under its own contract, which means his obligations are tied to NBC’s Sunday-night games and select special events, not to Amazon’s Thursday package.

Why He Isn’t With Al Michaels Anymore

  • When Al Michaels left NBC after Super Bowl 56, he became a high‑profile “free agent” and ultimately signed with Amazon to call Thursday Night Football.
  • Reports at the time indicated Michaels would have liked to keep working with Collinsworth, but NBC chose to keep Collinsworth, so Amazon had to partner Michaels with someone else—eventually landing on Kirk Herbstreit.

So, Why Isn’t Collinsworth on TNF?

  • He doesn’t have a contract with Amazon, only with NBC, so he is not part of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football talent roster.
  • Practically, that means:
    • Collinsworth = NBC, Sunday Night Football
    • Michaels + Herbstreit = Amazon, Thursday Night Football

Bottom line: If you want Collinsworth, you’ll usually find him on Sunday nights, not Thursdays, because of how the NFL’s TV rights and network contracts are split up.

TL;DR: Why isn’t Cris Collinsworth on Thursday Night Football? Because he stayed with NBC and focuses on Sunday Night Football , while Amazon owns TNF and hired its own booth (Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit), and Collinsworth has no Amazon deal.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.