Sports commentator

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In

The main commentator, also called the play-by-play commentator or announcer in North America, blow-by-blow in combat sports coverage, lap-by-lap for motorsports coverage, or

Radio and television play-by-play techniques involve slightly different approaches; radio broadcasts typically require the play-by-play host to say more to verbally convey the on-field activity that cannot be seen by the radio audience. It is unusual to have radio and television broadcasts share the same play-by-play commentator for the same event, except in cases of low production budgets or when a broadcaster is particularly renowned (Rick Jeanneret's hockey telecasts, for example, were simulcast on radio and television from 1997 until his 2022 retirement).

The analyst or color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor. They are usually former athletes or coaches in their respective sports, although there are some exceptions.

The term "color" refers to levity and insight provided by the analyst. The most common format for a sports broadcast is to have an analyst/color commentator work alongside the main/play-by-play announcer.^[2][3][4] An example is NBC Sunday Night Football in the United States, which is called by color commentator Cris Collinsworth, a former NFL receiver, and play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico, a professional announcer. In the United Kingdom, however, there is a much less distinct division between play-by-play and color commentary, although two-man commentary teams usually feature an enthusiast with formal journalistic training but little or no competitive experience leading the commentary, and an expert former (or current) competitor following up with analysis or summary. There are however exceptions to this—most of the United Kingdom's leading cricket and snooker commentators are former professionals in their sports, while the former Formula One racing commentator Murray Walker had no formal journalistic training and only limited racing experience of his own (he had come from an advertising background and his initial hiring was more of a comic double act than a traditional sports commentary pairing). In the United States, Pat Summerall, a former professional kicker, spent most of his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer. Comedian Dennis Miller's short-lived run as part of the Monday Night Football booth in 2001 caused what Miller himself described as a "maelstrom" of perplexed reviews.^[5]

Although the combination of a play-by-play announcer and color commentator is now considered the standard, it was much more common for a broadcast to have only one play-by-play announcer working alone. Vin Scully, longtime announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was one of the few examples of this practice lasting into the 21st century until he retired in 2016. The three-person booth is a format used on Monday Night Football, in which there are two color commentators, usually one being a former player or coach and the other being an outsider, such as a journalist (Howard Cosell was one long-running example) or a comedian (such as the before mentioned Dennis Miller).

A sideline reporter assists a sports broadcasting crew with

In motorsports, it is typical for there to be multiple pit reporters, covering the event from along the pit road. Their responsibilities include covering breaking news trackside, probing crew chiefs and other team leaders about strategy, and commentating on pit stops from along the pit wall. On occasion in motorsport, the reporter on the sideline is an understudy to the lead commentator, as Fox NASCAR has used this tactic numerous times based on the career of Cup lead Mike Joy, a former pit reporter. Those who made the switch included Steve Byrnes (Truck Series, 2014), Vince Welch (Truck Series since late 2015), and Adam Alexander (who did Cup for Fox-produced TNT broadcasts from 2010–14, Xfinity on Fox since 2015) did the same too.

In British sports broadcasting, the presenter of a sports broadcast is usually distinct from the commentator, and often based in a remote broadcast television studio away from the sports venue. In North America, the on-air personality based in the studio is called the studio host. During their shows, the presenter/studio host may be joined by additional analysts or pundits, especially when showing highlights of various other matches (e.g. in 1985, Jim Nantz was the studio host for The Prudential College Football Report in Studio 43 in New York for CBS Sports, and during his four-year tenure there [1985 through 1988 college football seasons], he had Pat Haden [in 1985] and Ara Parseghian [in 1987 and 1988] as his co-hosts/pundits).

Various sports may have different commentator roles to cover situations unique to that sport. In the 2010s, as popularized by Fox,

In video games, and particularly esports, commentators are often called shout-casters; this term is derived from Shoutcast, an internet audio streaming plugin and protocol associated with the Winamp media player.^[8] They are also sometimes referred to as simply casters.^[9][10]

While sports broadcasts took place from 1912, Florent Gibson of the

One of the highest-paid sportscasters in the United States is Tony Romo, a former NFL quarterback and professional golfer who serves as lead color analyst for the NFL on CBS; Romo earns $17,000,000 per year for his contributions to the network.^[12]

Jim Rome being the highest paid sports Broadcasters in The United States, making over 30,000,000 per year, Jim also has his own Sports talk show called The Jim Rome Show syndicated by CBS Sports Radio.^[13]

In 1975, the National Hockey League (NHL) made headlines when two coaches of the

The lawsuit was taken to the United States District Court in 1978 where Judge Constance Baker Motley ruled the act as violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court ruled that the Yankees organization devise a plan to protect the players of their privacy while female sportswriters conducted interviews, suggesting the use of towels.^[16]

After the access of allowing women in was put into effect, the Yankees organization allowed reporters to spend ten minutes interviewing players and was then asked to leave and wait. Male reporters were unhappy with this and blamed the women from keeping them out and not being able to do their job.^[16]

In 1990, the issue made its way back into the headlines when Lisa Olson made a public statement revealing that players from the New England Patriots had exposed themselves while interviews were being conducted. This prompted other female reporters who had been harassed to come forward. Their credibility was undermined by accusations that female interviewers appeared as being "too friendly" or conversing too long with players as though they were flirting. Thus, the issue of sexism was still present, despite the equal access to men's locker rooms.^[15]

Though not always the case, in professional wrestling, the color commentator is usually a "heel sympathizer" (or a supporter of the "bad guys") as opposed to the play-by-play announcer, who is more or less the "voice of the fans" as well as "babyface sympathizers" (or supporters of the "good guys"). Though both are supposed to show neutral stance while announcing, the color commentators (especially when they support heels) are usually more blatant about their stance than the play-by-play announcers. Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan pioneered the "heel sympathizer" for color commentary in wrestling.^[17] Jerry "The King" Lawler later made a successful transition into the same role, though Lawler has since shown more sympathy for faces, partially due to his popularity with fans after a forty-year career.^[18]

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Macho Man" Randy Savage pioneered the "babyface sympathizer" for color commentary in wrestling.^[19] Michael Cole, as a play-by-play announcer for WWE since 1999, has also portrayed this role for most of his announcing career. From 2010 to 2012, Cole served as a heel announcer, showing arrogance and contempt for faces and more sympathy for the heels (partially due to bullying from other face wrestlers, and jealousy from on-screen authority figures and other commentators). However, after Lawler suffered a legitimate heart attack on the September 10, 2012 episode of Raw, Cole broke character and continued to provide updates on his colleague's condition whilst simultaneously calling the action. His professionalism in the situation led to a slow babyface transition, which was cemented when the two men hugged in the ring upon Lawler's return to commentating two month later.^[20]

In some cases, commentators are also active managers for wrestlers, usually following continuity as heels. Former Extreme Championship Wrestling color commentator Cyrus was known for having dual roles as a heel manager and a somewhat neutral commentator, and continues to do so during his clients' matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling. Acting as a commentator has also been used to keep injured wrestlers – such as Samoa Joe on Raw between late 2019 and April 2021 – in the public eye while recuperating. Special guest color commentators serve two purposes: the primary is usually to place them in position to interfere with the match they are calling, the second is to provide promoters with the opportunity to determine if this performer can speak well extemporaneously.

• Announcerless game, December 1980, experimental broadcast of an NFL game without TV commentators
• List of sports announcers
• List of Major League Baseball retired numbers - Broadcasters