Jason Benetti didn’t hesitate when the opportunity to call Major League Baseball on a national stage re-emerged for NBC Sports. As he recently explained, the decision to leave FOX Sports came down to timing, relationships and the rare chance to be part of something distinct.
Speaking about his transition, Benetti made clear that cooperation from his previous employer played a pivotal role in making the move possible. Especially given the contractual hurdles that often complicate on-air talent movement across major networks.
“I had to get out of my contract at FOX [Sports] a couple of months early. All credit to Brad Zager over there for being willing to let me pursue this opportunity,” Benetti said. “Had they not done that, it would have been very difficult to make this happen. So I thank Brad for doing that.”
However, beyond logistics, the appeal of the role itself stood out as a driving force behind his decision. Particularly the format NBC Sports plans to deploy with a rotating mix of local analysts throughout the season.
Benetti emphasized that the variety of voices and perspectives aligns with what makes baseball unique among major sports. Especially when storytelling and personality play such an integral role in broadcasts.
“All of the conversation you can have with different people about the teams. There’s so many personality types who love baseball,” Benetti explained. “To have all those different personality types representative over the course of the season in the booth, I think, is phenomenally interesting.”
That approach signals a departure from more traditional national broadcast structures, instead leaning into a hybrid model that blends national reach with local insight. Something that could resonate strongly with fans accustomed to regional coverage. Additionally, Benetti revealed that his connection with NBC Sports leadership dates back several years, long before the network officially secured MLB rights again, with conversations that planted the seed for what would eventually become a career-defining opportunity.
“Sam [Flood] and I always joked after 2022 — and he was serious, and it turned out I was, too. That if NBC ever got baseball back in this sort of state, that I would be on the list of people that he would call,” Benetti said. “I firmly appreciate that.”
That relationship with Sam Flood, combined with Benetti’s reputation as one of the most versatile and engaging play-by-play voices in sports, positioned him as a natural fit once NBC Sports finalized its plans.
Benetti currently serves as the television voice of the Detroit Tigers and previously held the same role with the Chicago White Sox, gaining widespread praise for blending storytelling, analytics and personality into modern baseball broadcasts.
Benetti had been rumored for months as a top contender to join the network’s roster for MLB play by play. When FOX Sports recently announced their World Baseball Classic announcer pairings, Benetti’s name was a glaring omission. According to sources, the regular season MLB schedule for FOX’s coverage had yet to be finalized but Benetti had been working for the network calling college basketball.
The move also reunites Benetti with NBC programming. He previously contributed to the company’s baseball coverage during the sport’s streaming era. In 2022, he called games for Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff package. The broadcasts were an early attempt to experiment with exclusive streaming coverage. One year earlier, Benetti also served as a play-by-play announcer during coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
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Will he call college sports at NBC, or just MLB.