Michael Kay urges ESPN to use local MLB broadcasters in playoffs

Even Michael Kay, who is paid to broadcast MLB playoff games for ESPN, is aware that the network is doing baseball fans a disservice by keeping them away from their local stations.

The MLB playoffs are here, which means fans will have to watch their favorite teams play their biggest games of the season without the soundtrack of their local announcers. ESPN, TBS and Fox provide a number of national announcers during the MLB playoffs and face the impossible task of matching local broadcasts.

On Thursday afternoon, Kay, who anchors New York Yankees games locally and nationally for ESPN, admitted that it would be better for the world leader to let fans hear their local announcers.

“Don't you think it's only right that Met fans and Brewer fans can hear their home team's announcers on a secondary audio device…Don't you think Tigers fans want to hear Jason Benetti?” And they didn’t want to hear Todd Kalas on the Astros’ side?” – Michael Kay pic.twitter.com/7hSvajQQ0R

– Awful Announcement (@awfulanncreasing) October 3, 2024

“Don't you think it's only right that Met and Brewer fans hear their home team's announcers on a secondary audio system?” Kay asked co-hosts Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg on their ESPN New York radio show. “Don’t you think Met fans want to listen to Gary, Ron and Keith at this game? Don’t you think Brewer fans want to listen to Brian Anderson play?”

The irony of this rant is the fact that Kay was the national announcer scheduled to call the Houston Astros-Detroit Tigers Wild Card Series for ESPN. But that wasn't lost on Kay, who knew he wouldn't be the announcer of choice for Astros or Tigers fans.

“Don’t you think Tigers fans want to hear Jason Benetti? And they didn't want to hear Todd Kalas on the Astros' side? Light up. It’s so simple,” Kay said. “And that way, ESPN, and in the next round TBS and Fox, still get the ratings because you're still watching their show, but the bottom line is that people get to know who they want to hear.”

Boog Sciambi, who calls the Mets-Brewers series humorous for ESPN, also admitted that fans would prefer to watch their local networks during Game 1.

“This is the time of year when the national players come into play. Of course we cheer for your favorite team. Both teams.” – Boog Sciambi 😂 pic.twitter.com/EJybceRyws

– Awful Announcement (@awfulanncreasing) October 2, 2024

Rosenberg had a logical solution, suggesting that fans should be able to select their local radio show as their audio feed while watching the game on ESPN. For years, fans have gone to the trouble of synchronizing a radio feed with the television broadcast. However, last year, Apple TV began offering fans the ability to watch their broadcast while simultaneously playing commentary from one of the local teams' radio feeds. For ESPN, Fox and TBS, this would seem like an easy proposition to adopt.

Don't get me wrong, Mets fans would love to hear Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling call the playoffs. But who wants to tell Hernandez he has to work harder if the Mets make the playoffs? The radio announcers are already working, so they might as well let more fans hear.

Fans are used to watching their favorite NFL teams with national announcers. It's even enjoyable to watch national broadcasts of your favorite NBA and NHL teams. But baseball is different. This is different because MLB fans tune in to their local stations for about 150 of their 162 games in a season. There is a stronger connection between fan and broadcaster. And it's different because the sport is so regional. Los Angeles Angels fans don't watch the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers, but Lakers fans might watch the Knicks and Bucks.

If networks want to push their own stations during the LCS and World Series, that's fine. Many fans won't be happy about this, but you can understand that networks want to feature their announcers during championship games. But in the early rounds of the MLB playoffs, fans should have a more viable option to listen to local announcers while watching games on a national level.

(The Michael Kay Show)