Photos via ESPN Images

• Multi-Year Contract Extends McDonough’s 30+ Year ESPN Tenure
• Continues College Football Playoff Semifinal Call Each Year; Marquee CFB Games Each Week
• Adds to Robust Portfolio Which Already Includes Nearly Every Major Sporting Event

ESPN has re-signed award-winning play-by-play commentator Sean McDonough to a new multi-year contract, extending the veteran broadcaster’s tenure with the network well beyond three decades. McDonough will continue to broadcast a College Football Playoff Semifinal on ESPN and the CFP National Championship on ESPN Radio, capping each college football season in which he will call weekly marquee regular season games on ESPN or ABC. This season, McDonough will again be paired with analyst Todd Blackledge, as well as field analyst Todd McShay, it was announced today.

McDonough’s voice extends beyond ESPN’s college football coverage, calling signature men’s college basketball games during the regular season and Champ Week, concluding the basketball season by calling the NCAA Men’s Final Four for ESPN International. The Masters’ Par 3 competition, the PGA Championship, select MLB games and additional golf events will remain on his annual slate.

McDonough joined ESPN in 1988, establishing himself as a national voice just four years after graduating cum laude from Syracuse. In his renowned tenure, the Boston native has been behind the ESPN microphone for a bevy of marquee events, including The Open Championship, the US Open, and multiple NCAA Championships including hockey, lacrosse and soccer in addition to the aforementioned college football and basketball events. For two seasons, he was also the voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

“For many viewers, Sean has been a signature voice for their entire fandom, shaping memories of historic sports moments,” said ESPN senior vice president of production, Lee Fitting. “His innate ability to rise to the occasion has been proven time and time again which, along with his broadcasting versatility across a multitude of sports, has defined his career. Having Sean continue to be a mainstay on our signature games enhances our entire production. We’re looking forward to the next chapter of an already remarkable career.”

“While I appreciate the opportunities I’ve had to call many exciting games across a wide array of sports,” said McDonough, “It’s the lifelong friendships with my talented colleagues that mean the most. I’m fortunate to have a dream job that enables me to work with people who have become like family to me.”

During a portion of his early career, McDonough worked for both ESPN and CBS, as well as exclusively for CBS between 1996 and 1999. As CBS’s lead Major League Baseball broadcast voice in 1992 and 1993, he called the World Series, National League Championship Series and the All-Star Game. McDonough’s other CBS assignments included a diverse array of sports – men’s and women’s college basketball, NFL, golf, U.S. Open Tennis and the Olympic Winter Games. He was also their lead college football play-by-play announcer from 1997 to 1999. McDonough was the television play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox from 1988-2004.

In 2019, McDonough was awarded the George Arents Award— Syracuse University’s highest honor — presented annually to alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their chosen fields. The award was the latest for McDonough, which also includes Marty Glickman Award from the Syracuse’s Newhouse Sports Media Center, multiple Halls of Fame, including WAER, Syracuse’s noncommercial radio station which helped jump start his career, and an honorary degree from Southern Vermont College.

McDonough’s golf tournament –The Sean McDonough Celebrity Golf Classic – has raised nearly four million dollars over 10 years, with the proceeds distributed to 129 children’s charities throughout Massachusetts and into a fund to benefit cardiac amyloidosis research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Sean’s dad, National Sports Media Association Hall of Famer Will McDonough, died from cardiac amyloidosis in 2003.

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