If you are a sports viewer, you’ll be seeing something next month that’s quite rare — a number of well-known sports broadcasters changing networks.
Such is the case when it comes to staffing on-air talent for the Olympics. NBCUniversal has received permission from other networks to use a number of their staffers including Jason Benetti, Beth Mowins and Matt Winer, who normally appear nationally on ESPN and Turner Sports, respectively.
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“The other networks have been terrific about allowing people to join our Olympic team, and for me it’s a thrill to get to work with talent I’ve admired for so long like Beth Mowins,” said Rebecca Chatman, vice president and coordinating producer of NBC Olympics production.
Sometime later Thursday, NBCUniversal will officially announce most of its play-by-play broadcaster roster for the Tokyo Olympics. Well-known names include Benetti (who will call baseball), Lisa Byington (soccer), Noah Eagle (3-on-3 basketball), Jenn Hildreth (soccer), Mowins (softball), Kate Scott (basketball) and Winer (handball). It’s interesting to note some of the announcers who are switching sports, such as Winer.
“Matt was really excited to be assigned handball — he was already familiar with the sport,” said Chatman. “The Olympics have such a wide range of events that it’s a unique challenge to build a roster of play-by-play voices every four years. Matt is a prime example. For many of us in TV, both on-screen and behind the scenes, working the Olympics is a bucket-list experience, so it’s not hard to convince people to take on a new sport.”
MORE ON THE TOKYO OLYMPICS: Read all our coverage here
The list below includes some previously announced assignments. (Note: The gymnastics, tennis and volleyball play-by-play assignments have yet to be announced, though Terry Gannon has been the voice of gymnastics for some time and correspondent Mary Carillo will call some tennis from Tokyo.) Most of the broadcasters below will call their sports out of NBC’s Stamford, Conn., broadcast center. Broadcasters for U.S. men’s and women’s basketball, golf, gymnastics, swimming, major track and field, and volleyball will be on-site in Tokyo.
The running list:
• Shane Bacon of the Golf Channel will provide golf play-by-play commentary and also host golf studio coverage.
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• Benetti will call baseball, which returns to the Summer Games for the first time since the Beijing Games in 2008. Benetti is the voice of the White Sox for NBC Sports Chicago and calls MLB, college basketball and college football for ESPN. In April, he called Carlos Rodón’s no-hitter and Stephen Curry’s history-making 53-point game in the same week.
• Jack Benjamin, the voice of Nicholls State on ESPN Radio-New Orleans, will handle play-by-play for several events.
• Krista Blunk, a commentator for various networks, including the Pac-12, Westwood One and ESPN, will provide play-by-play for several sports.
• Brendan Burke, who calls the NHL for NBC, will do play-by-play for rowing and canoe sprint.
• Byington, a play-by-play announcer and reporter for Fox Sports, Big Ten Network, CBS and Turner Sports, will call soccer.
• Telemundo Deportes’ Andres Cantor, the iconic fútbol announcer, will call soccer matches in both English and Spanish.
• Rupert Cox will handle play-by-play for rugby from Sky Sports studios in the U.K.
• Leigh Diffey, who has called a ton of motorsports, was previously named the play-by-play voice of NBC Olympics’ track & field coverage. (Ato Boldon is NBC Sports Group’s lead track & field analyst.)
• Eagle, the radio voice of the Clippers, will call 3-on-3 basketball.
• Bob Fitzgerald, the play-by-play voice for the Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area, is expected to be the men’s basketball game-caller. He called Olympic basketball at the London Games.
• Mark Followill returns for his second NBC Olympics assignment handling soccer play-by-play,
• NBC’s Dan Hicks, as he has done in previous years, will be the main voice for swimming.
• Hildreth, an ESPN play-by-play announcer and also the voice for the NWSL on CBS Sports, will call soccer.
• Patrick Kinas, the radio/TV voice of the Durham Bulls, will call some of the swimming events.
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• Rich Lerner makes his NBC Olympics play-by-play debut for both men’s and women’s golf from on-site in Tokyo. He has been a studio host and play-by-play commentator for Golf Channel for nearly 25 years.
• Chris Lewis, the radio voice of Boise State, will call table tennis.
• Courtney Lyle, who calls a variety of sports for ESPN and the SEC Network, will handle play-by-play for the field hockey competition.
• Mowins will serve as the play-by-play voice for softball.
• Derek Rae will handle soccer play-by-play — his NBC Olympics debut — and currently serves as ESPN’s lead play-by-play announcer for Bundesliga coverage.
• Scott will call men’s and women’s basketball (non-U.S. games). She is the host of the morning show on 95.7 FM “The Game” in San Francisco and a play-by-play voice for Pac-12 Network.
• As previously announced: Arlo White returns to NBC Olympics coverage to handle play-by-play for U.S. women’s soccer games, as well as the women’s gold medal match and men’s gold medal match in Tokyo.
• Winer will call handball and serves as an NBA host for Turner Sports and NBA TV.
(Top photo of Matt Winer: Allison Farrand / NBAE via Getty Images)
Richard Deitsch is a media reporter for The Athletic. He previously worked for 20 years for Sports Illustrated, where he covered seven Olympic Games, multiple NCAA championships and U.S. Open tennis. Richard also hosts a weekly sports media podcast. Follow Richard on Twitter @richarddeitsch
