The MLB postseason is underway, and with the NHL regular season starting next week, ESPN attempted to use its national baseball coverage to build some early momentum for its Oct. 7 opening-night tripleheader. But the cross-promotional effort fell flat when one of the network’s own analysts, Ben McDonald, admitted on-air that he had no plans to tune in.
During ABC’s October 1 broadcast of the San Diego Padres-Chicago Cubs game, play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown introduced a promotional read for the NHL’s Opening Night slate. The package includes the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers raising their banner against the Chicago Blackhawks, followed by Penguins-Rangers and Avalanche-Kings.
Brown asked his broadcast partner Ben McDonald if he was ready for the Panthers to pursue a “three-peat.” The former pitcher — who works Orioles games for MASN and was enlisted by ESPN for postseason coverage — gave an answer that startled many.
“If you say so, I mean good luck to them. Are you asking if I’m going to be watching?” McDonald replied. When Brown suggested that, as an ESPN employee, he would surely be tuning in, McDonald doubled down: “There is zero chance I’ll be watching. I’m just going to be honest with you.”
The exchange, which was met with laughter in the booth, didn’t land quite as ESPN executives might have hoped. Brown closed the segment by joking, “OK, thanks man. We’ll be watching. Thanks for the ratings boost.”
By Thursday morning, McDonald was already doing damage control. Appearing on FS1’s Wake Up Barstool, he explained that his comments weren’t meant to disparage hockey or ESPN’s rights package. Instead, he admitted he simply wasn’t aware of the network’s NHL deal and would naturally prioritize playoff baseball over early-season hockey.
“As far as the hockey stuff goes, when that thing popped up on the screen, I didn’t even know ESPN had the hockey contract,” McDonald said. “If I have a choice between the beginning of hockey season and October baseball, I’m probably leaning slightly towards playoff baseball to be honest with you.”
It didn’t take long for reaction to surface elsewhere following McDonald’s comments. John Buccigross, one of ESPN’s top NHL voices, fired back on X with a pointed reminder of McDonald’s baseball résumé: “Zero is also how many postseason innings Ben McDonald pitched in his MLB career.”
Later in the broadcast on Wednesday, ESPN’s baseball crew again read the same NHL promo during the Red Sox-Yankees broadcast. This time, the commentary ended in silence.
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