MLS killed the TV star: A farewell to MLS regional broadcast crews

The final days of the 2022 MLS season are a bittersweet moment in the league’s history. It marks the final time that broadcast crews air MLS games across regional sports networks throughout the United States. That means a final time that fans of MLS teams can hear the familiar voices of announcers, analysts and sideline reporters.

The growth of MLS on TV

Since 1996 when the league launched, going to the stadiums to watch games was one thing. But growing a fandom would be much bigger than that. How would broadcasters get people to watch games across television?

First, ESPN stepped up to broadcast games nationally. The rest fell to local TV stations and regional sports networks. Those two carried the weight of MLS games, both home and away.

Games took place at traditional football stadiums like Giants Stadium, the Cotton Bowl, the Rose Bowl and Arrowhead Stadium. Regional broadcast crews for MLS were there the whole time as clubs moved into their own stadiums, with a few exceptions.

After years of watching your team in MLS, the passion and expertise of the talent came through the television sets. You grew up with these broadcasters. A memorable goal call or a catchphrase are burned inside the minds of MLS fans across the country.

A new era with Apple TV

When the new era of Apple TV begins on streaming in 2023, it will be interesting to see which broadcast teams make the jump from the regional sports networks to Apple. At the same time, will these new broadcast teams do their jobs at the stadiums or within a centralized location?

While we await MLS to answer the fundamental questions ahead of the 2023 season, let’s salute all the broadcast teams and broadcasting partners who have done an incredible job spending their weekends and midweek days calling the games, analyzing them for all of the fans, and having conversations with the written media.

Farewell to MLS regional broadcast crews

ATLANTA:
Bally Sports South/Southeast: Kevin Egan, Maurice Edu, Jillian Sakovits

AUSTIN:
KNVA, KBVO: Adrian Healey, Michael Lahoud

CHARLOTTE:
WSOC, WAXN: Eric Krakauer, Lloyd Sam, Katie Witham

CHICAGO:
WGN Sports: Arlo White, Tyler Terens, Tony Meola, Dan Kelly

CINCINNATI:
WSTR: Tom Gelehrter, Kevin McCloskey

COLORADO:
Altitude Sports: Richard Fleming, Marcelo Balboa

COLUMBUS:
Bally Sports Ohio/Great Lakes: Dwight Burgess, Bill McDermott, Neil Sika, Jordan Angeli, Brett Hiltbrand

DC UNITED:
NBC Sports Washington: Dave Johnson, Tony Limarzi, Devin McTavish, Claudia Pagan

DALLAS:
KTXA: Mark Followill, Owen Newkirk, Steve Davis, Sam Hale, Garrett Melcer

HOUSTON:
AT&T Sportsnet Southwest: Glenn Davis, Eddie Robinson, Daniela Rodriguez

KANSAS CITY:
Bally Sports KC, WMCI: Nate Bukaty, Jacob Peterson, Aly Trost

LA GALAXY:
Spectrum Sportsnet: LA Joe Tutino, Cobi Jones, Nikki Kay

LAFC:
KCOP: Max Bretos, Angela Hucles, Warren Barton, Mariano Trujillo, Lori Lindsey, Heath Pearce, Rodolfo Landeros, Christopher Sullivan, Aly Wagner, Jordan Harvey, Mark Rogondino

MIAMI:
WFOR, WBFS, WAXY: Andres Cordero, Chris Wittyngham, Ray Hudson, Kaylyn Kyle, Thomas Rongen

MINNESOTA:
Bally Sports North: Callum Williams, Charlie Beattie, Kyndra de St. Aubin

MONTREAL English:
TSN: Vic Rauter, Greg Sutton, Steven Caldwell

MONTREAL French:
TVA Sports: Frederic Lord, Vincent Destouches, Nicolas Martineau

NASHVILLE:
WZTV, WUXP, WNAB: Tony Husband, Jamie Watson

NEW ENGLAND:
NBC SPORTS Boston, WBZ, WSBK: Brad Feldman, Charlie Davies, Naoko Funayama

NY RED BULLS:
MSG NETWORKS: Steve Cangialosi, Shep Messing, Michelle Gingras, Tina Cervasio

NYCFC:
YES Network: Joe Tolleson, Ian Paul Joy

ORLANDO:
WRBW: Evan Weston, Miguel Gallardo, Gabrielle Amado

PHILADELPHIA:
WPHL, WPVI, NBC Sports Philadelphia: J.P. Dellacamera, Danny Higginbotham, Tommy Smyth, Marisa Pilla

PORTLAND:
Root Sports Northwest, KPTV, KPDX: Christian Miles, Jake Sivin, Ross Smith, Liam Ridgewell

SALT LAKE CITY:
WMYU, KYUU, KHSV, KNSN: David James, Greg Wrubell, Bill Riley, Brain Dunseth

SAN JOSE:
NBC SPORTS Bay Area/California: Anthony Passarelli, Chris Dangerfield, Danielle Slaton

SEATTLE:
KCPQ, KZJO: Keith Costigan, Kasey Keller, Steve Zakuani

TORONTO:
TSN Channels: Luke Wileman, Steven Caldwell, Kevin Kilbane

VANCOUVER:
TSN Channels: Peter Schaad, Blake Price, Paul Dolan, Shantelle Chand

 

Photo credit: IMAGO / Icon Sportswire