ESPN announcer's controversial remarks during baseball game could cost him his job
Photo credit: NHL.com
An ESPN announcer made a controversial comment about the NHL and the Chicago Blackhawks during a baseball game that hasn't been well received by the hockey world.
It's an exciting time to be a baseball fan, as the playoffs are now underway in the MLB. Big games will go down in the upcoming weeks and hype is through the roof.
The same thing can be said about the NHL. The 2025-26 season is on the horizon and fans already got a chance to see some action during the preseason.
In Chicago, the Cubs are currently competing against the San Diego Padres, and will look to clinch their way to the second round against the Milwaukee Brewers later today.
As for the Hawks, they will host the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues for the two remaining exhibition games, and will open their season next Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.
The Blackhawks' young core, led by Connor Bedard, appears poised to show strides in the season. For the first time in years, they could finish the season in a better position than the 32nd rank in the standings.
However, Ben McDonald, an MLB announcer for ESPN, the official NHL broadcaster, isn't feeling the hype.
ESPN Announcer Gets Widely Criticized For Controversial Comments About Hockey
During the latest Cubs game, Ben McDonald of ESPN mentioned that there was "zero chance" he would watch the Blackhawks season opener against the Panthers, despite working for the channel that paid billions of dollars for the NHL broadcasting rights.
This was also moments after Hawks players Nick Foligno, Connor Bedard, and Frank Nazar were shown attending the Cubs game.
Listen to his comments here, in a video posted by the Awful Announcing channel:
Many NHL fans were disappointed by those comments and voiced their dissatisfaction on social media:
"Really unfortunate that an ESPN employee would be making comments like this towards the NHL especially considering ESPN and the NHL have a $4.5B contract."
McDonald later offered his thoughts on the whole issue. Here's what he had to say:
This isn't a fireable offense, and he has a right to share his opinion. ESPN surely didn't like it, but in the end, there's no harm in his words. Some might argue that this will end up helping the channel, as the clip was seen by a lot of people who could be more intrigued to watch hockey now.
After all, many hockey announcers would surely prefer to watch playoff hockey rather than the first MLB games of the season in the spring.
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