Behind The Mic: Linda Cohn Celebrates 30 Years at ESPN With New Contract, Play-By-Play Announcer Jason Benetti Joins FOX Sports
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, Linda Cohn celebrates 30 Years at ESPN with new, multiyear contract, celebrated play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti joins FOX Sports and more.
Linda Cohn Celebrates 30 Years at ESPN With New, Multiyear Contract
After recently celebrating 30 years with ESPN, Linda Cohn has signed a new, multiyear deal to remain with the network as an anchor for SportsCenter and a contributor to ESPN’s coverage of the NHL.
Anchoring the late night edition of SportsCenter from ESPN’s Los Angeles studios, Cohn also hosts the ESPN+ hockey program In the Crease and co-hosts the podcast of the same name. She also reports on the NHL with news and features for SportsCenter and other ESPN platforms and serves as a reporter on game telecasts.
Cohn will continue all of those roles as her new contract extends her presence on ESPN that began when she joined the network in 1992 and hosted her first SportsCenter on July 11, 1992.
Celebrated Play-By-Play Announcer Jason Benetti Joins FOX Sports
Celebrated play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti joins FOX Sports in 2022, contributing to the network’s live sports slate beginning with college football this fall. Today’s announcement was made by Brad Zager, President of Production/Operations and Executive Producer, FOX Sports.
Benetti has served as a play-by-play announcer for some of the industry’s biggest events, spanning multiple sports from college football and basketball to Major League Baseball and Olympic baseball contests.
Since 2016, Benetti has served as the voice of the Chicago White Sox, and this season he was named the voice of NBC Sports’ MLB Sunday afternoon package. He also provided play-by-play for the network’s Olympic baseball coverage during the 2020 Summer Games.
He spent the past eleven years calling events for ESPN’s family of networks, including college football, MLB, college basketball, NFL and NBA games. He has also broadcast select television games for the Chicago Bulls, as well as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Westwood One Radio.
Benetti began honing his broadcasting chops early on, calling football games for his high school radio station. He continued with play-by-play duties throughout his time in college and law school, ultimately holding roles with several regional broadcast networks, including Westwood One, Time Warner Cable Sports, the BIG EAST Conference and the Syracuse Chiefs.
ESPN Signs Super Bowl Champion and Arizona State Standout Brock Osweiler as College Football Analyst
Former NFL quarterback and Arizona State standout Brock Osweiler is joining ESPN as a college football analyst and will team up with play-by-play commentator Anish Shroff and sideline reporter Taylor McGregor on a package of games this season. A seven-year NFL veteran, Osweiler played five seasons with the Denver Broncos and was part of their Super Bowl 50 championship team in 2015, in addition to stints with the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins before retiring in 2019.
ESPN will announce its full roster of college football commentating crews the first week of August.
FOX Sports Scores Ian Darke As New FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Play-By-Play Announcer
FOX Sports, America’s English-language home for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, today announces acclaimed soccer commentator Ian Darke will join the network’s FIFA World Cup™ broadcast team as a new play-by-play announcer for this year’s tournament.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ marks Darke’s eighth FIFA World Cup™ and bolsters FOX Sports’ expert announce team. He made his FIFA World Cup™ debut on American television with ABC and ESPN at the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ before going on to call matches for the networks at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany™ and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. He also called 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ matches for the world feed and covered both the 1982 and 1990 FIFA World Cup™ for BBC Radio and Eurosport.
Darke joins returning lead play-by-play announcer John Strong and new play-by-play announcer Jacqui Oatley as FOX Sports commentators for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. New and returning broadcasters joining FOX Sports at this year’s World Cup will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
