RAW'S KEVIN PATRICK PICKS UP NEW GIG ANNOUNCING MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

The following press release was issued today, listing Kevin Egan aka Raw's Kevin Patrick as a new on-air broadcast personality for Major League Soccer.  There is no reference to his WWE duties in the release, which you can read below:

Apple and Major League Soccer Add 31 Talented On-Air Personalities to the MLS Season Pass Broadcast Team

Cobi Jones, Kaylyn Kyle, Brian Dunseth, Patrice Bernier, Christina Unkel, Eduardo Biscayart, Keith Costigan, Adrian Healey, Jorge Perez-Navarro, Adrian Garcia Marquez, and Danny Higginbotham are just a few of the newest faces of MLS Season Pass

NEW YORK (Monday, January 30, 2023) – Apple and Major League Soccer today announced a second round of talented on-air personalities who will be joining the MLS Season Pass broadcast team. The 31 new additions are well-known and accomplished announcers, expert analysts, and storytellers, whose passion for the game will help showcase all of the MLS action and compelling storylines to fans in more than 100 countries and regions.

The new collection of broadcasters brings a wealth of MLS and international soccer experience, both as announcers and players, to the MLS Season Pass team, including:

— Studio hosts: Stefano Fusaro (Spanish), and Kaylyn Kyle.

— Match analysts: Patrice Bernier (French), Eduardo Biscayart (Spanish), Brian Dunseth, Danny Higginbotham, Cobi Jones, Devon Kerr, Jaime Macias (Spanish), Francisco Pinto (Spanish), Heath Pearce, Lloyd Sam, Ross Smith, Carlos Suarez (Spanish), and Jamie Watson.

— Studio analyst: Shep Messing

— Rules analyst: Christina Unkel

— Play-by-play: Dre Cordero, Keith Costigan, Matt Cullen (French), Kevin Egan, Mark Followill, Adrian Garcia Marquez (Spanish), Adrian Healey, Eric Krakauer, Jorge Perez-Navarro (Spanish), Francisco X. Rivera (Spanish), Mark Rogondino, Sergio Ruiz (Spanish), Tyler Terens, and Callum Williams.

These 31 individuals join a team of previously announced announcers that represent many of the industry’s most qualified and compelling broadcasters. The complete on-air broadcast team and full production plan for MLS Season Pass will be announced prior to the start of the MLS 2023 season, which begins February 25.

MLS Season Pass, the unprecedented subscription service on the Apple TV app, will feature every match of the regular season, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, and Leagues Cup1 all in one place, with consistent match times and no blackouts. The service will also feature live pre-game, halftime, and post-game analysis, and a fast-moving whip-around show that will provide live look-ins and analysis from all the key moments from every match.

“What we’re experiencing here with Apple and MLS is the next stage of entertainment and we are blessed to be part of this transitional time,” Perez-Navarro said. “To be able to reach so many people around the world is not only exciting but carries a big responsibility as we build and create a world class product for soccer fans everywhere.”

“For Major League Soccer to align with Apple and everything that means is massive,” Costigan said. “People around the world are going to see that there is a soccer culture in this country, and it is really inclusive inside the stadiums, from young fans to old fans, to expatriates of other countries coming to support the local team. That mix inside the stadium is incredible. With the World Cup coming here in three years, Apple is aligning with MLS at the perfect time.”

All matches will feature commentary in English or Spanish, while matches involving Canadian teams will also have French commentary. Pregame shows and the postgame wrap-up will be available in English and Spanish. Fans in the US and Canada will also have the option to select their home team’s radio for broadcast audio on the Apple TV app where available.

Best-in-Class Analysts

• Patrice Bernier, a native of Montreal and member of both the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame and Quebec Soccer Hall of Fame, joins the team as a French analyst. He played 18 professional seasons, including nine in Europe (Norway, Germany, Denmark) and his final six years (2011-17) in MLS with Montreal. He was team MVP in 2012 and an MLS All-Star in 2013. Bernier spent the last four years as an analyst for TVA Sports and covered his first World Cup in 2022 with RDS.
• A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Eduardo Biscayart will serve as an analyst on the Spanish language broadcasts. He has covered international soccer for more than 25 years, serving as an analyst for ESPN, FOX Sports, beIN Sports and Telemundo. He is known for his commentary in LaLiga, the English Premier League and has covered five FIFA Men’s World Cups and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019.
• Prior to joining MLS Season Pass, Brian Dunseth enjoyed a 10-year professional playing career, including nine years in MLS with New England, Miami, Columbus, Dallas, Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy. He was a defender for Team USA in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney and helped lead the squad to the medal rounds, the best-ever performance by the U.S. men’s team in an Olympic tournament. After retiring in 2006, he went into broadcasting and worked for ESPN, NBC Sports, FOX Sports and Univision covering MLS and international soccer. He also spent the last 16 years as Real Salt Lake’s television analyst.
• Danny Higginbotham played 18 years and made 415 appearances as a defender, including more than 200 in the Premier League with Manchester United, Derby County, Southampton, Stoke and Sunderland. He played in the Champions League, Europa League, the UEFA Cup and made it to two FA Cup Finals. After retiring in 2014, Higginbotham broke into broadcasting and has earned the reputation as one the game’s top match analysts. He has worked for Sky Sports, BT Sport, ITV, talkSPORT, NBC Sports and ESPN, covering MLS, the Premier League, Champions League, EFL Championship, FA Cup, the European Championships, Europa League final and Champions League final. For the last two years, he has served as the television analyst for the Philadelphia Union.
• Cobi Jones, a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, enjoyed a storied 14-year playing career that included stops with Coventry City of the Premier League and Vasco de Gama of Brazil before coming stateside for the inception of Major League Soccer in 1996. He won two MLS Cups (2002, 2005) during a 12-year career with the LA Galaxy. He set a U.S. Soccer men’s record with 164 appearances for the U.S. National Team, playing in three World Cups (1994, 1998, 2002) and one Olympic Games (1992). He began his broadcasting career with FOX Sports in 2010, covering FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022, as well as MLS, Liga MX and Bundesliga. In 2012, he joined NBC Sports as an analyst for the London Olympics and was in the booth for beIN Sports’ FIFA World Cup coverage in 2014. For the last 10 seasons, Jones has served as Time Warner’s match analyst for the LA Galaxy.
• Devon Kerr joins MLS Season Pass as a match analyst. The former defender for Stetson University played professionally in Germany before becoming a broadcaster in 2017. He serves as the lead analyst for the USL Championship, ACC Network and NCAA College Cup for ESPN. He has covered MLS and international events, including the Gold Cup, Concacaf Champions League, Concacaf Nations League World Cup Qualifying and Olympic Qualifying.
• Jaime Macias has been a Spanish-speaking analyst since 2006. At the age of 22, he covered his first World Cup in South Africa in 2010. He moved to Miami in 2015, where he has been a broadcaster covering Champions League, four World Cups and more. He has competed as a karting driver, professional goalkeeper and an entrepreneur. A native of Ecuador, Macias released his 2021 book “Tercer Arquero (Third Choice Goalkeeper)” where he shares his experiences that have led him here.
• Shep Messing serves as a studio analyst for MLS Season Pass after working as the lead analyst for the New York Red Bulls on MSG Network. He began his broadcasting career with ESPN in 1986, calling MISL matches and the first of four FIFA World Cups (1986, 2002, 2006, 2014) for the sports leader. He enjoyed a 13-year professional playing career as a goalkeeper, including seven in the NASL and six in the MISL. He was part of the New York Cosmos 1977 championship team along with Pele and earned four MISL championships. Messing also played for the U.S. Men’s National Team, competing in the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1972 Summer Olympics.
• Heath Pearce, who speaks German, Spanish and Portuguese, is an analyst for the English broadcasts. He made 235 appearances during an 11-year playing career that included five MLS seasons and three MLS All-Star selections. He also spent five years in Europe playing in the German Bundesliga and Danish Superleague and earned 35 caps as a defender for the U.S. Men’s National team (2005-12). Pearce has worked as a soccer analyst for CBS, Paramount+, ESPN, FOX and beIN Sports.
• Francisco Pinto, a native of Conception, Chile, brings a wealth of experience as a Spanish language analyst to MLS Season Pass. He has spent more than 25 years in television and radio, including 14 years with KMEX, Univision’s Los Angeles affiliate, where he has covered some of the biggest sporting events in the world, including two World Cups (2002 in S. Korea/Japan and 2006 in Germany), the NBA Finals, multiple Super Bowls, and the World Series. Pinto served as the Spanish TV analyst for the LA Galaxy during their MLS title run in 2012. He also offered live coverage of the Galaxy's first MLS title in New England in 2002. After KMEX, Pinto worked nine years for Los Angeles Lakers and is the current Spanish radio analyst for Los Angeles Chargers.
• Lloyd Sam enjoyed a 19-year professional soccer career as a midfielder and defender. He played all four professional levels in England and throughout the United States’ professional pyramid. He spent eight years with Charlton Athletic and two with his hometown club Leeds United before coming to Major League Soccer, where he made 149 appearances between the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United. After retiring in 2020, he made the move to broadcasting, calling matches for the USL, MLS NEXT and Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers. He spent the 2022 season as the color analyst for Charlotte FC’s English language broadcasts.
• Ross Smith played nine professional seasons (2004-13), including the 2010 season with the Portland Timbers. The Guelph, Canada native, retired in 2011 and joined the Timbers broadcast team as radio analyst. After resuming his playing career in 2012, Smith retired for good in 2013 and spent the last nine years as the Timbers’ TV analyst.
• Carlos Suarez joins MLS Season Pass as a Spanish language analyst after a successful 20-year career with DIRECTV Sports Latin America, beIN Sports USA and TUDN USA as lead soccer analyst. He also provided color commentary in Major League Baseball and the NBA. During his soccer broadcasting career, he has covered some of the biggest events, including seven World Cups, five Copa America, three Euro Cups and three MLS Cups.
• Christina Unkel, who was inducted into the Florida Soccer Referees Hall of Fame in 2021, will serve as the rules analyst for MLS Season Pass. She earned her FIFA officiating badge in 2013 and is certified as a video assistant referee (VAR) since 2017 when MLS first implemented VAR. In 2019, she became a rules analyst for FOX Sports, working the 2019 Women’s World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup. In 2022, Unkel covered UEFA Women’s Euros for ESPN. She serves in the same capacity for CBS Sports, covering UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Serie A, and World Cup Qualifiers. Unkel is also the State Referee Administrator and Chief Operating Officer for Florida Soccer Referees, U.S. Soccer’s Referee Program in Florida.
• Jamie Watson joins MLS Season Pass as a match analyst after serving the last three seasons as Nashville SC’s color commentator. Prior to Nashville, Watson was the television analyst for Minnesota FC from 2017-20. Watson played professionally for 12 seasons, including stints with Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas, Orlando City SC and Minnesota United FC. He was a two-time USL champion and USL MVP in 2013.

Captivating Hosts

• Stefano Fusaro, a first generation American of Argentine and Cuban descent, joins the team as a Spanish language studio host and play-by-play announcer. He has spent more than 17 years in sports media, the first 10 as an Emmy award winning broadcaster for Univision where he covered both soccer and basketball. He later joined ESPN’s coverage of MLS as a sideline reporter. In 2021, Fusaro became the Spanish voice of the New York Red Bulls for the past two seasons, while also creating soccer content for Meta.
• Kaylyn Kyle, a former midfielder for the Canadian National Team and NWSL, will serve as co-host of the whiparound show. The native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, played professionally from 2006-16, starting in the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy, where she spent six years and finishing her career with the Orlando Pride. She also made 101 international appearances for Team Canada, including two World Cups and the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she earned a bronze medal. Kyle became a broadcaster for TSN in 2017. She has served as a host and analyst for the last three years with beIN Sports and was a sideline and digital reporter for Inter Miami CF for the last three seasons.

Engaging Play-by-Play

• Dre Cordero comes to MLS Season Pass after handling play-by-play duties for Inter Miami for the last three seasons. He has been covering domestic and international soccer since 2004, working for CBS Sports, Paramount+, Gol TV and beIN Sports as a play-by-play announcer, studio host, analyst and reporter. He has covered some of soccer’s biggest events, leagues and teams, including the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Copa America, Africa Cup of Nations, FA Cup, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and U.S. Men’s National Team.
• Keith Costigan is one of the preeminent soccer play-by-play voices in the U.S., spending the last seven years as the voice of the Seattle Sounders, where he earned a pair of Emmys. He has also spent 18 years with FOX Sports, serving as the lead play-by-play announcer on Bundesliga and covering Champions League, Liga MX, Gold Cup and the European Championships. The Dublin, Ireland native played professionally with the Portland Timbers of the USL for two seasons and the Harrisburg City Islanders.
• Matt Cullen is a bilingual play-by-play commentator who will be part of the French language broadcast team. Over the past two years, he has called the French-language broadcasts for both Canadian National teams, including the Canadian men qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years. He has called games in the CONCACAF Champions League, the FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers, Canadian Championship and Canadian Premier League. He also reported on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as a national TV and Radio host. Cullen has covered the last three Olympic Games for the CBC and the last three Stanley Cup Finals for CBC News Network and CBC Radio One.
• Kevin Egan, originally from Dublin, Ireland, has spent the last 10 seasons broadcasting MLS matches on television with both the Chicago Fire and Atlanta United. During this time Egan also acted as a play-by-play commentator and studio host for beIN Sports, Turner Sports, ESPN and CNN International.
• Mark Followill, a graduate of the University of North Texas, is an experienced and talented play-by-play announcer, best known for his work with FOX Sports, NBC Sports, FC Dallas and the Dallas Mavericks. He has been the voice of the Mavs since 2005, both on radio and television and became the TV play-by-play announcer for FC Dallas in 2012. He joined FOX Sports’ soccer team in 2016, handling play-by-play duties for Copa America Centenario, Gold Cup (2017, 2019), 2018 FIFA World Cup, MLS, UEFA Europa League, Bundesliga, U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team friendlies and FIFA U20 and U17 World Cups (men’s and women’s). He also called men’s and women’s soccer matches at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games for NBC Sports.
• Adrian Garcia Marquez has established himself as one of the most respected play-by-play announcers in the industry. His bilingual calls have been on national and regional sports networks, including Fox Sports, Fox Deportes, CBS Sports, Amazon Prime, Telemundo, Univision/Telefutura and Spectrum SportsNet. He has served as Fox Deportes' principal play-by-play voice for Liga MX, NFL and MLB. He has also covered some of the biggest events, including two World Cups, Copa America, Gold Cup, the Olympic Games, World Series, and Super Bowl. An Emmy Award winner, Garcia Marquez, was the voice for the Los Angeles Lakers for six years, handled TV play-by-play for the LA Galaxy during their championship season in 2012 and has served as pregame host for LAFC on ESPN 710.
• Adrian Healey is a well-known and accomplished soccer voice in America, having served ESPN’s coverage as a play-by-play announcer and studio host for 18 years. During that time, he broadcasted more than 250 MLS matches, the most in the history of the network. He also called four FIFA World Cups (two men’s and two women’s) and helped lead ESPN’s coverage of LaLiga, Serie A and UEFA Champions League. For the last two seasons, Healy served as the executive director of broadcast and content for Austin FC and called all their matches during that time.
• Eric Krakauer, born and raised in Portugal, was Charlotte FC’s first and only TV play-by-play announcer, during the club’s 2022 inaugural season. Prior to joining Charlotte, Krakauer was a play-by-play announcer, studio host and analyst at beIN Sports USA, where he covered a wide range of European and South American competitions, including La Liga, France’s Ligue 1, and the Copa Libertadores. He has also called Concacaf and CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers, as well as Liga MX on TUDN.
• Jorge Perez-Navarro, one of Spanish sports television’s most recognizable voices, has been associated with American Soccer since the U.S. Men’s National Team’s Road to Korea/Japan 2002 and has led coverage for 9 MLS Cups and 10 MLS All-Star Games. A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, he has handled play-by-play for MLS, Liga MX, UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on networks such as Univision, ESPN Deportes and FOX Deportes. Perez-Navarro is a veteran of 5 FIFA World Cups and the first to do it in Spanish and English for TV in the U.S. He has also collaborated for Telemundo, Amazon Prime and DAZN.
• Francisco X. Rivera comes to MLS Season Pass after handling LAFC’s Spanish TV coverage on Estrella TV from 2020-22. He was the club’s Spanish radio analyst for its first two seasons and served in other roles such as English sideline reporter and co-host of the team’s online coverage. His MLS career started as the Spanish radio voice of the LA Galaxy in 2007, followed by Chivas USA’s Spanish TV announcer in 2011 and Galaxy’s Spanish TV host on Time Warner Deportes from 2013-2015. Rivera has also worked at FOX Sports since 2006, calling Liga MX and UEFA Champions league for Fox Deportes as well as FIFA Club World Cup, U-17 and U-20 World Cup matches on FS1. He crossed over to the English market during the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, becoming the first Mexican-born broadcaster to appear on the FOX network.
• For two decades, Mark Rogondino has established himself as a prominent voice in both domestic and international soccer. After a collegiate playing career as a goalkeeper at San Diego State, Rogondino joined the FOX Sports team in 2002, calling MLS, UEFA Champions League, Bundesliga, Liga MX and U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team matches. He became a member of the LA Galaxy broadcast team in 2005 and was their play-by-play voice during the team’s championship seasons in 2011 and 2012. Rogondino spent the last five seasons as the pre, half and postgame host for LAFC matches on YouTube TV and ESPN Radio.
• Sergio Ruiz, a native of Venezuelan, brings more than 20 years of experience to the MLS Season Pass Spanish language broadcast team. He has broadcast every Orlando City game in MLS since the club joined the league in 2015. In total, he has called more than 260 matches over the past eight seasons. He has covered several editions of the Copa América, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Eurocopa, domestic leagues in South America and the FIFA World Cup.
• After spending the last three seasons as the Chicago Fire’s play-by-play voice, Tyler Terens joins the MLS Season Pass announcing crew. After playing soccer at Hobart College, he broke into broadcasting with VISTA Worldlink, where he would call multiple matches a day. He served as the primary play-by-play announcer for the Phoenix Rising in USL, while also covering Concacaf Champions League, Gold Cup, U.S. Open Cup and Concacaf Nations League matches for VISTA.
• Callum Williams is a seasoned voice who has covered soccer both internationally and domestically for over 17 years, including the last 12 with MLS. He called MLS league games and MLS Cup globally with IMG, as well as regionally as the voice of Sporting KC and, most recently, Minnesota United. Williams previously worked for the BBC, Sky Sports and talkSPORT, calling matches in the English Premier League, EFL, Bundesliga and La Liga. He has also worked as the lead English Language voice for the CONMEBOL Libertadores and has called the last three finals.

For headshots of all announced MLS Season Pass talent, click here.

Starting February 1, MLS Season Pass will be available to fans in over 100 countries and regions, bringing MLS to its biggest worldwide audience ever, in a more simple and streamlined way. All matches will be available on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. The launch of MLS Season Pass marks the official kickoff of the 10-year partnership between MLS and Apple, a historic first for a major professional sports league.

Follow MLS Clubs on the Apple TV App and Apple News

With iOS 16, Apple introduced a new My Sports section on the Apple TV app across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for users to easily follow their favorite clubs, teams, and leagues. Fans can visit apple.co/MySportsMLS on iPhone or iPad to be directed right to the Apple TV app and follow their favorite Major League Soccer clubs, and get alerts before upcoming games, follow scores in real time, and more.

My Sports also makes it easy to get personalized, real-time sports coverage from Apple News. Fans can stay up to speed with the best stories from top publications — plus get live scores, schedules, standings, and highlights.

Subscribing to MLS Season Pass

Starting February 1, fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season. A subscription to MLS Season Pass will be included with each full-season ticket account. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password.

1. This excludes Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup for viewers in Mexico

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