Why is Jason Benetti announcing the Michigan State vs. Oregon football game for Fox?
Benetti, who just finished his first season as the Detroit Tigers’ play-by-play man at Bally Sports Detroit, is not calling the Tigers’ playoff games, since national networks ABC, ESPN, TBS and Fox own the rights. He missed the Tigers’ Wild Card Series sweep this week at the Houston Astros. The Tigers play Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday at the Cleveland Guardian. Brian Anderson and Jeff Francoeur will be on the call from the TBS TV booth.
Benetti is ready for the prime-time Big Ten Conference matchup between the Ducks and Spartans (9 p.m. ET, Fox).
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Benetti works for Fox Sports on National College Football, College Basketball and MLB assignments, and previously worked at ESPN and NBC. Before the Pac-12 exodus, Fox called the league’s basketball games alongside the late Bill Walton.
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New Tigers TV announcer Jason Benetti at Comerica Park on Thursday, November 9, 2023.
Benetti joined the Chicago White Sox as a rotating television announcer for NBC Sports Chicago in 2016. He assumed the play-by-play duties full-time from 2019-2023, following the retirement of Ken Harrelson.
The Tigers’ broadcast partner is Bally Sports Detroit, but the company’s owner is trying in court to drop the Tigers for the 2025 season. Fear not, though: Benetti’s contract is with the Tigers, not the network.
Benetti, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a young child, grew up in Homewood, Illinois, about 25 miles south of Chicago.
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He graduated from Syracuse’s SI Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2005 with bachelor’s degrees in broadcast journalism, economics, and psychology. He also graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2011 with a Juris Doctor degree.
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This article originally appeared on the Detroit Free Press: Why is Jason Benetti announcing Michigan State vs. Oregon?
