Behind the Mic: CBS Sports Pencils Announcer Lineup for UEFA Champions, Europa Leagues

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, CBS Sports announces the lineup for their coverage of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, a former NBA All-Star joins NBC Sports NASCAR commentary team, and more.

Analysts Roberto Martinez, Jamie Carragher, and Micah Richards and host Kate Abdo have joined CBS Sports to lead its pregame, halftime, and postgame studio coverage of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League tournaments in August across multiple ViacomCBS platforms, with every match on CBS All Access and select matches on CBS Sports Network.

Peter Schmeichel and Alex Scott will provide analysis both in studio and on-site from Portugal. Ruud Gullit will serve as the lead studio analyst for UEFA Europa League coverage and as a contributor for UEFA Champions League.

Veteran announcers Clive Tyldesley and Peter Drury will handle play-by-play duties for 10 matches, including the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Final as well as the UEFA Europa League Final, with each working five matches and calling the action off the UEFA world feed from IMG Studios near London. Tyldesley will call the UEFA Champions League Final with Drury handling the UEFA Europa League Final.

“This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the best club soccer in the world, so it was important to bring in credible, knowledgeable and likable personalities for soccer fans everywhere,” said Pete Radovich, Coordinating Producer of UEFA, CBS Sports. “We are thrilled to have multiple UEFA Champions League winners, iconic former players and the manager of the FIFA No. 1 ranked national team in the world. Their experiences around the sport at the highest levels of competition along with their diverse backgrounds give us a great mix, and we are excited to have this unbelievable group headlining our coverage.”

CBS Sports’ UEFA studio shows will be produced from IMG Studios near London with Abdo hosting the main desk for UEFA Champions League alongside analysts Martinez, Carragher, and Richards. Schmeichel and Scott will be in studio for the remaining UEFA Champions League Round of 16 matches and then will provide analysis from Portugal for the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final. Gullit will be the lead analyst from the studio for UEFA Europa League and a contributor for UEFA Champions League.

Additional announcers and reporters for CBS Sports’ presentation of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League will be added at a later date…

…Long-time NASCAR analyst and team owner Brad Daugherty has joined NBC Sports’ NASCAR commentary team. He is scheduled to make his debut with NBC Sports during the Michigan doubleheader weekend of August 8-9.

Daugherty will primarily join the team of studio analysts for pre- and post-race coverage alongside current NBC Sports NASCAR analysts Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty. He will also join the broadcast booth for select Xfinity Series races.

A life-long NASCAR fan from Black Mountain, N.C., Daugherty wore the No. 43 as a nod to Richard Petty during his eight-year NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who selected him with the first overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft from the University of North Carolina. Daugherty is part-owner of the JTG Daugherty Racing Cup Series team and has previously served as a NASCAR analyst for ESPN…

…Fox Sports continues to bolster its 2020 NFL on-air lineup as Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Vilma joins Fox Sports as an NFL game analyst.  A 10-year veteran NFL linebacker, BCS national champion, and prominent college football studio analyst the past several years, Vilma makes his NFL analyst debut Sundays on Fox this fall.

Prior to Fox Sports, the three-time Pro Bowler spent four years at ABC and ESPN, serving as a studio analyst for ABC’s college pregame, halftime and postgame shows in 2018 and 2019, and as an ESPN college football analyst beginning in 2016. Vilma also regularly appeared on several ESPN programs, including Get Up and First Take, in addition to time at NBC and NBCSN as a pregame and halftime analyst covering Notre Dame football in 2015…

…Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is joining Tom McCarthy, Gregg Murphy, John Kruk, and Ben Davis this year on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Phillies broadcast team. In addition to his broadcasting duties, he will appear on Phillies Pregame Live and Phillies Postgame Live, and be a regular contributor to the Phillies Talk podcast.

Amaro is a Philadelphia native and graduate of William Penn Charter School. He played five seasons for the Phillies, following in his dad’s footsteps. After his playing days, he joined the team’s front office and served as assistant GM when the team won the World Series in 2008. He was named GM in November 2008, and led the team to the National League pennant the following season. He held the GM role until 2015. Recently, he has served as a special advisor and first base coach for the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets…

…ESPN has reached a multi-year contract extension with veteran ESPN Radio host Freddie Coleman. He will continue to host ESPN Radio’s weeknight show Freddie and Fitzsimmons, alongside football sideline reporter and analyst Ian Fitzsimmons as part of the recently announced new lineup. The show – which runs from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. ET – has been entertaining listeners as part of the ESPN Radio schedule since 2016.

Prior to Freddie and Fitzsimmons, Coleman hosted The Freddie Coleman Show on ESPN Radio on weeknights and Sundays from 2013-16. He joined ESPN in 2004 as a co-host of the then-nightly, prime-time program GameNight on ESPN Radio…

…ESPN Audio is collaborating with voice-over artist and host Cayman Kelly to bring his contemporary sound to the network. Kelly will work closely with ESPN Audio on a variety of sound for the network’s programming including updates, promotions, and much more. In August, listeners will begin hearing Kelly’s dynamic work across everything from ESPN Radio’s new weekday lineup to digital podcasts and live event content.

Kelly’s multi-platform career has included work across ESPN and other TV networks, radio stations of all genres, video games, live concerts and events, and corporate presentations.

Kelly started his voice-over career when he became the voice for BET and their digital networks after working on other projects for the network. Since then, he has voiced television promos for TV Land, TV One, Bounce TV, Cartoon Network, and more. After receiving much recognition for his work, he became the imaging voice of numerous radio stations across the country, including for POWER 105.1 in New York and successful radio show, The Breakfast Club, in addition to hosting a national show on SiriusXM.

He was a voice on “Grand Theft Auto V” and worked with artists on tour including Usher, Mary J. Blige, Wiz Khalifa, Boyz II Men, and Bruno Mars. Kelly has hosted numerous events across the globe that include festivals attended by 10,000-30,000 plus individuals.