TV Fun Fact: Al Michaels traded for a rabbit

Although Al Michaels is known as a sports icon, he probably never expected to be traded, especially for a fictional rabbit. On February 9, 2006, the sportscasting legend was allowed to leave ABC and his 20-year run on Monday Night Football to join NBC’s new Sunday Night Football broadcast. In exchange, NBC Universal sold various sports coverage rights to the ESPN division of ABC’s parent company Disney. But it also sold Disney the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a long-forgotten cartoon character developed by Walt Disney himself. Walt had tragically lost the rights to Oswald in 1928, spurring him to create a similar looking replacement character, which turned out to be Mickey Mouse.

When asked to comment about the “trade”, Al Michaels took it in stride. “Oswald is definitely worth more than a fourth-round draft choice. I’m going to be a trivia answer someday.”