Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Behind the Mic: Apple Announces Broadcasters for MLS Season Pass; Faxon and Kaufman Join NBC's 2023 Golf Commentary Team

13/01/2023

Behind the Mic: Apple Announces Broadcasters for MLS Season Pass; Faxon and Kaufman Join NBC's 2023 Golf Commentary Team By SVG Staff

Friday, January 13, 2023 - 7:00 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, Apple and Major League Soccer have announced who the members of their announcing team will be for MLS Season Pass, Brad Faxon and Smylie Kaufman join NBC's golf commentary team for the 2023 year, and more.

Apple and Major League Soccer Unveil Broadcasters for MLS Season Pass Apple and Major League Soccer today announced the initial members of the accomplished team of announcers that will serve as the faces and voices of MLS Season Pass, the unprecedented subscription service launches February 1, 2023, on the Apple TV app in more than 100 countries and regions.

Spearheading the coverage will be a team of talented broadcasters and soccer legends, including Kyndra de St. Aubin (match analyst), Maurice Edu (match analyst), Lori Lindsey (match analyst), Danielle Slaton (match analyst), Taylor Twellman (match analyst), Marcelo Balboa (match analyst), S bastien Le Toux (match analyst), Sacha Kljestan (studio analyst), Bradley Wright-Phillips (studio analyst), Diego Valeri (studio analyst), Liam McHugh (studio host), Jillian Sakovits (studio host), Tony Cherchi(studio host), Max Bretos (play-by-play), Steve Cangialosi (play-by-play), Jake Zivin (play-by-play), Pablo Ram rez (play-by-play), and Frederic Lord (play-by-play). The complete on-air broadcast team - which represents many of the industry's most qualified and compelling announcers - and the full production plan for MLS Season Pass will be announced prior to the start of the MLS 2023 season, which begins February 25.

MLS Season Pass will deliver the best viewing experience that MLS fans have ever had, in large part to these incredible announcers, who will be calling the matches and bringing their passion, energy, and know-how for this league, these clubs, and this sport each and every week, says Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Services. Today is a milestone moment for our partnership with MLS, as we begin to unveil some of the faces and voices of this unprecedented streaming service, and we can't wait for fans to start tuning in next month.

We are thrilled to assemble a dynamic, knowledgeable team of broadcasters for MLS Season Pass, individuals who have lived and breathed the beautiful game for many years, says Don Garber, MLS's commissioner. This talented group of men and women has taken part in the biggest moments across the soccer and sports landscape for the past decade; whether covering them on air or taking part in them as players, they have been at the center of building our sport in North America. We are excited to see how their diversity of experiences will elevate our coverage and storytelling across our live matches and studio shows, bringing our sport to fans around the globe like never before.

MLS Season Pass will feature every match of the regular season, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, and Leagues Cup* all in one place, with consistent match times and no blackouts - a first in live sports broadcasting. It will also feature pregame shows, a whip-around show that will provide live look-ins from every match and feature every goal, penalty kick, and big save, as well as analysis and discussion from all the key moments, and a postgame wrap-up to close each night.

All matches will feature commentary in either English or Spanish, while matches involving Canadian teams will also offer commentary in French. Pregame shows and the postgame wrap-up will be available in English and Spanish. Fans in the US and Canada will also have the option to select their home team's radio for broadcast audio on the Apple TV app where available.

Best-in-Class Analysts

Kyndra de St. Aubin has been in the broadcast industry since completing her collegiate soccer career at Minnesota in 2003. She has been part of the FOX Sports family since 2011, having worked two FIFA Women's World Cups in 2015 and 2019. She has spent the last five years as television analyst for Minnesota United FC.

Maurice Edu, a member of the 2010 US World Cup team who played 12 seasons in MLS and Europe, has spent the past five years as an analyst with FOX Sports. He also called Atlanta United matches the past two seasons and provides soccer commentary for CBS Sports.

Lori Lindsey played 14 professional seasons and was a member of the 2011 US Women's World Cup team prior to serving as a soccer analyst for ESPN and CBS Sports. She has also worked as a sideline reporter for Nashville SC.

Danielle Slaton, who earned a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and bronze at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup as a member of the US Women's National Team, has been a television game analyst for the last 13 years, including the last eight with the San Jose Earthquakes. In 2018, she made history as part of the first all-female broadcast team to cover one of the five major US men's sports leagues, joining Lisa Byington and Katie Witham on FOX Sports' broadcast of D.C. United vs. New England Revolution.

A former MLS MVP and US National Team player, Taylor Twellman joins MLS Season Pass after spending the past 11 years as ABC and ESPN's lead soccer analyst. During his playing career, he was one of the most prolific scorers in MLS history, recording 101 goals in 174 matches with New England. He was the fastest player ever to reach the 100-goal plateau until his new MLS Season Pass teammate, Bradley Wright-Phillips (159), eclipsed the mark.

Marcelo Balboa, a former US National Team defender and mem
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/01/13/behind-the-mic-apple-announces-...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

12/05/2025

Perfect Partners: Kicking off World Sevens Football's Goals for Its First Broadcast with Media Partner DAZN

Perfect partners: Kicking off World Sevens Football's goals for its first br...

12/05/2025

Canon's Paul McAniff Shows the Latest in PTZ Auto-Tracking Tech

Canon's Paul McAniff Shows the Latest in PTZ Auto-Tracking Tech The company showcased select solutions at the 2025 SVG Esports Production Summit in Seattle ...

12/05/2025

Fox Corporation Announces New Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service: FOX One

Fox Corporation Announces New Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service: FOX One The platform will offer all of FOX's sports, news, and entertainment programming...

12/05/2025

Live from Eurovision: The Greatest Show on Earth Returns With a Focus on Enhancing the Viewer Experience

Live from Eurovision: The greatest show on Earth returns with a focus on enhanci...

09/05/2025

MLB Sunday Leadoff' 2025: MLB Local Media Pulls the Production, Operational Strings in Second Season on Roku

MLB Sunday Leadoff' 2025: MLB Local Media Pulls the Production, Operational ...

09/05/2025

LTN, Pro Volleyball Federation To Wrap Second Season With Championship Weekend

LTN, Pro Volleyball Federation To Wrap Second Season With Championship Weekend PVF's broadcast coverage has risen 350% from its debut season By Mark J Burn...

09/05/2025

Evertz's Ray Kasprzyk on Meeting the Unique Technological Needs of Massive Live Esports Productions

Evertz's Ray Kasprzyk on Meeting the Unique Technological Needs of Massive L...

09/05/2025

With Real Madrid-FC Barcelona, ESPN Preps for Most Ambitious LaLiga Match Coverage Yet

With Real Madrid-FC Barcelona, ESPN Preps for Most Ambitious LaLiga Match Covera...

08/05/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundaries With XR/AR

SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...

08/05/2025

Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta Horizon, and Beyond

Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...

08/05/2025

PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are Elevating Live Golf Coverage

PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...

08/05/2025

Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Production

Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...

07/05/2025

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience Balancing audio quality and noise is a constant struggle By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Wednesday, M...

07/05/2025

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Difference

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Diffe...

07/05/2025

Snow Sports Offer Opportunity for Edgy and Aggressive' Audio

Snow Sports Offer Opportunity for Edgy and Aggressive' Audio Natural Selection Tour, Shawn White's The Snow Leagues emphasize athlete sound By Dan Da...

06/05/2025

SVG India Summit Draws 140 for a Day of Learning, Networking

SVG India Summit Draws 140 for a Day of Learning, Networking Global perspectives coupled with India perspectives made for informative discussions By SVG Staff ...

06/05/2025

The CW Benefits From NASCAR's New XR and Volumetric Studio at North Carolina Production Facility

The CW Benefits From NASCAR's New XR and Volumetric Studio at North Carolina...

06/05/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of Products and Customers

SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of...

06/05/2025

The FAST Factor: What's Happening in Sports' Latest Streaming Party

The FAST Factor: What's Happening in Sports' Latest Streaming Party Leaders from the NBA, NBC Sports, and Amagi discuss the latest trends in free ad-sup...

05/05/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Kiloview's Judy Zuo on Ensuring Reliable AV Over IP Services

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Kiloview's Judy Zuo on Ensuring Reliable AV Over ...

05/05/2025

In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI Capabilities

In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI ...

05/05/2025

Inside ATP Media's Remote Revolution in Tennis Broadcasting

Inside ATP Media's remote revolution in tennis broadcasting By George Bevir Friday, May 2, 2025 - 13:50 Print This Story From a single London hub, ATP...

02/05/2025

Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ever

Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ev...

02/05/2025

SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows on the Live Gaming Environment

SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows o...

02/05/2025

Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructed Views' for Pirates Fans

Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructe...

02/05/2025

How Momentum Broadcast Teamed Up With Carr-Hughes Productions to Land the Grand Slam Track Production Contract

New possibilities: Creating a new production company with a difference at Moment...

01/05/2025

Telling the Story: Extensive Technical Setup Delivers Comprehensive Special Olympics Coverage

Telling the story: Extensive technical set-up delivers comprehensive Special Oly...

01/05/2025

Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Corti...

01/05/2025

Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Access

Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Acce...

30/04/2025

With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To Be a Heavyweight Production

With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To B...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: Momentum Broadcast and Carr Hughes Productions Team Up

Fascinating characters: Behind the Grand Slam Track partnership of Momentum Broa...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: Groundbreaking AR for Live Athletics Headlines Inaugural Season

Big package: Groundbreaking AR for live athletics comes to Grand Slam Track By ...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: New League Heads Stateside After Jamaica Debut

High benchmark: Inside the inaugural Grand Slam Track production from Jamaica B...

29/04/2025

Engagement in the Live Stream: The New Age of Delivering the Game

Engagement in the Live Stream: The New Age of Delivering the Game A conversation of streaming leaders dissects the feature sets that are winning in live sports ...

29/04/2025

Conveying Emotion: BBC Sport on Bringing the 45th London Marathon to Viewers

Conveying emotion: BBC Sport on bringing the 45th London Marathon to viewers By Heather McLean Monday, April 28, 2025 - 14:35 Print This Story BBC Sport l...

28/04/2025

Joe Cohen Inducted into Cable Hall of Fame

Joe Cohen Inducted into Cable Hall of Fame By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Monday, April 28, 2025 - 5:19 pm Print This Story | Subscribe Story H...

28/04/2025

LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics Capabilities

LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics C...

28/04/2025

Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C

Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C By SVG Staff Monday, April 28, 2025 - 10:51 am Print This Story | Subscribe ...

28/04/2025

SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and REMI Production, Early Prep for Super Bowl LXI

SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and ...

28/04/2025

A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and Sunset+Vine

A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and...

25/04/2025

Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Technology Officer Mike Bidgoli

Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Tec...

25/04/2025

Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases Focus on Software Adoption

Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases...

24/04/2025

Live From NFL Draft 2025: NFL Media Splits Sprawling Production Between Green Bay and L.A.

Live From NFL Draft 2025: NFL Media Splits Sprawling Production Between Green Ba...

24/04/2025

Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertainment Outside Lambeau Field

Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertai...

24/04/2025

Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay and L.A.

Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay a...

24/04/2025

Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Behnke as SVP of Production

Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Be...