Fox Sports has identified its likely lead broadcast team for next year’s World Cup. In other news, Fox Sports has also hired the NFL’s former SVP of officiating and former Georgetown coach John Thompson III is looking for opportunities in broadcasting.
Fox Zeroes In On World Cup Broadcast Team
- Fox Sports will likely use play-by-play voice John Strong and analysts Landon Donovan and Stuart Holden as its lead World Cup broadcast team next year, Fox World Cup producer David Neal told the Associated Press in a piece published Wednesday. The trio worked Thursday’s United States-Trinidad & Tobago World Cup qualifier, and Strong and Holden will pair on the upcoming Confederations Cup (Donovan, according to the AP, will miss the event for the birth of his child). None of the three is older than 35. Some may recall that Fox once groomed Gus Johnson for the lead play-by-play role. [AP 6.7]
Blandino Joining Fox As Rules Analyst
- Former NFL SVP/officiating Dean Blandino has joined Fox Sports as a rules analyst, it was announced Tuesday. Blandino will contribute insights from Fox Sports’ Los Angeles studios on pro and college football games, working alongside incumbent Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira. While still working for the NFL, Blandino previously appeared on NBC’s NFL games in 2013. [Fox Sports]
Thompson III Looking to Enter Broadcasting
- Former Georgetown men’s basketball coach John Thompson III has signed with Sandy Montag’s Montag Group and is seeking broadcasting opportunities, Sports Business Journal and The Washington Post reported this week. Thompson III. Montag told the former publication that Thompson “will be talking to every network that has basketball, whether it be college or NBA.” Thompson’s father served as an NBA analyst for Turner Sports in the 2000s. [SBJ 6.5 and Washington Post 6.6 via SBD 6.7]
