The Fox MLB studio team will call a Red Sox-Yankees game; Charlie Neal passes away at the age of 80; and the NBA Draft Lottery could reportedly be televised live starting next year. Plus news on Fox NFL, Nexstar, TNT Sports and ESPN Radio.
Fox MLB studio team to broadcast Red Sox-Yankees game following Belmont Stakes
The Fox MLB studio team of host Kevin Burkhardt and analysts Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez will call the network’s June 6 game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, Fox confirmed on Saturday. The three analysts were each part of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry during much of the 2000s and early 2010s.
The broadcast will be the main feed of the game, rather than an alternate presentation. With a direct lead-in from the Belmont Stakes, it could rank among the most-watched games this season. Last year’s matchup of the teams in the post-Belmont window was the most-watched of last season.
While Rodriguez formerly called MLB games on ESPN, Jeter and Ortiz do not have any recurring game analyst experience. Burkhardt, who calls play-by-play for NFL games with seven-time Super Bowl champion QB Tom Brady, has sporadically filled in on MLB broadcasts over the years and has regional experience for the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets.
Fox Sports president/EP Brad Zager told Andrew Marchand of The Athletic that the game will differ from a typical broadcast due to the “the depth of storytelling.”
Charlie Neal passes away at 80
Longtime sports broadcaster and executive producer Charlie Neal passed away last Wednesday following an illness at 80 years old. Neal is credited with popularizing HBCU sporting events, both as a play-by-play voice and as an executive.
He held both roles with BET, where he worked from its 1980 inception through 2004. As the network’s executive producer of sports, he was responsible for compiling its football schedule and crafting the on-air product.
On the air, Neal worked with former Jackson State CB and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Lem Barney in the broadcast booth for 23 years calling football games on BET. The duo called games featuring Hall of Fame players such as Jerry Rice and Steve McNair, and were in the booth when Grambling State HC Eddie Robinson broke the all-time college football wins record in 1985. In addition to his work on BET, Neal called a wide variety of sporting events on CBS Sports and Turner Sports, including contributing to the latter’s NBA coverage, and was a regular voice for the MEAC Basketball Tournament where he called games through the semifinals.
Neal began his career in broadcasting working on radio in Philadelphia and began his television career at Washington D.C. affiliate WRC-TV. He is a member of multiple halls of fame and was chairman of the selection committee at the Black College Football Hall of Fame. The National Football Foundation honored Neal as the winner of the Chris Schenkel Award in 2023, granted to “individuals who have had long, distinguished careers broadcasting college football with direct ties to a specific university or platform.”
NBA Draft Lottery drawing could reportedly be televised starting next year
With expected changes to the NBA Draft Lottery starting next season, the drawing itself could be broadcast live next year, according to a report by Sam Amick and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The league would be following in the footsteps of the NHL, which has televised its draft lottery drawing from Secaucus, N.J. the last two years.
The NBA Draft Lottery has operated under its current format since 2019, which safeguards the team holding the league’s worst record from fall any lower than fifth in the selection order. Teams finishing with the bottom-three records in the NBA are guaranteed a 14% chance at winning the first selection with dwindling odds for the teams thereafter. In total, 14 teams are eligible to receive a top-four pick in the draft lottery and are selected through multiple ping-pong ball combinations.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on SiriusXM last week that the league will present owners with a proposal that would diminish lottery odds for the bottom-three teams. Silver also said that the system would last for three years and that the NBA would have greater ability to discipline teams for “overt tanking.” Shams Charania of ESPN reported in April that the final vote on the “3-2-1 lottery” proposal would take place on Thursday, May 28 and expand the draft lottery to 16 teams.
Plus: Nexstar, Fox NFL, TNT Sports, ESPN Radio
- Nexstar Media Group EVP/CFO Lee Ann Gliha said she believes there could be “some opportunity” for the company to acquire more local sports rights amid changes to the RSN model. Gliha, who was speaking at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference on Monday, said that the company reviews contracts “on a case-by-case basis” to ensure they are profitable. Although Nexstar affiliates do not own primary regional TV rights to any professional sports teams, they do air select broadcasts for the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and LA Clippers. If Nexstar is allowed to proceed with its $6.2 billion merger with Tegna currently paused under a preliminary injunction, it would add Tegna affiliates that air regional broadcasts of Dallas Mavericks basketball and Seattle Kraken hockey, along with some over-the-air games for other franchises.
- Fox Corporation president/COO John Nallen said last Wednesday that the company would monetize increased costs of NFL rights through its advertising and distribution revenue, aligning with historical precedent. Nallen, who was speaking at the MoffettNathanson Media, Internet & Communications Conference, also mentioned that the company adding two more NFL games to its national schedule is “accretive” for its business. “I think it’s just further evidence of the fact that the relationship we’ve had with the NFL for 30 years is strong despite what you read in the press reports,” Nallen said. “So if there’s a point coming up for engagement on both sides, we’ll both approach it the way we’ve approached it over the last 30 years.”
- ESPN play-by-play voice Dave Pasch will call the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN Radio alongside analyst Doris Burke and reporter Vanessa Richardson, marking the first conference final assignment for Pasch on a national NBA platform. For Burke, it will mark a return to calling the conference finals on radio after doing so on television the past two seasons. Last year, ESPN’s radio team for the East Finals was Sean Kelley, Cory Alexander and Katie George.
- TNT Sports is refining “The Mac Zone” alternate presentation featuring John and Patrick McEnroe at Roland Garros, granting them latitude over what matches air throughout the broadcast and simulcasting the first hour on YouTube and truTV, per a report by Rob Schaefer of Sports Business Journal. The program will air during the first six days of the tournament beginning at 9 AM ET.
