Toronto Blue Jays radio play-by-play announcer Ben Wagner will not be on the team’s broadcasts next season, Sportsnet announced on Wednesday morning.
The company posted a statement on X that divulged that it decided not to renew his contract for the next season. The new radio broadcast booth for the team will be announced prior to the start of the 2024 Blue Jays season.
“Thank you, Ben, for sharing your voice and expertise with listeners across Canada,” the statement read. “We wish you the very best.”
Wagner had served as the radio voice of the team for the last six seasons and called road games remotely for the last several years following the COVID-19 pandemic. He was briefly taken off the radio broadcasts when Sportsnet decided to simulcast its television broadcast on radio; however, that move was expeditiously reversed.
During this past season, Wagner worked alongside color commentator Chris Leroux and had the opportunity to travel to call the team’s Wild Card Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, which ended in a 2-0 loss. The Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels were the only two MLB teams not to send their broadcasters on the road during the 2023 MLB regular season.
Upon graduating from Indiana State University with a degree in radio and television, Ben Wagner worked as the director of media and public relations for the Lakewood BlueClaws, a Class-A Minor League Baseball team for which he also served as its play-by-play announcer.
Three years later, he called games for the Buffalo Bisons in Triple-A for the next 11 seasons before replacing Jerry Howarth as the radio play-by-play voice of the Blue Jays.
