Clint Dempsey has largely stayed away from professional soccer since calling time on his playing career, but he is about make an unexpected return as part of a star-studded announcer crew.
CBS Sports revealed its broadcast team for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League Finals on Monday, and Dempsey is part of an announcer lineup that includes other former U.S. Men’s National Team players like Maurice Edu, Charlie Davies, and Oguchi Onyewu.
Dempsey, Davies, and Onyewu will all serve as analysts for in-studio coverage while Edu and former USMNT defender Marcelo Balbao will do match analysis from the broadcast booth.
Making up the rest of the CBS Sports announcer crew are Kate Abdo, Nico Cantor, Jenny Chiu, Janelly Farias, Andres Cordero, and Adrian Garcia-Marquez. Abdo will serve as an in-studio host, Cantor and Chiu will provide sideline coverage, Farias will contribute in studio, and Cordero and Garcia-Marquez will do play-by-play commentary.
The network plans to air ‘Concacaf Today’ live, a program that will include pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. Concacaf Today will be broadcast from inside Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado — site of the competition’s last four matches.
The Concacaf Nations League resumes on June 3 with a pair of semifinal matches. The USMNT will first battle Honduras before Mexico squares off against Costa Rica. The tournament’s third-placed game and final will take place three days later.
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Isn’t the question actually whether any games will be broadcast on channels that are actually accessible to viewers?
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The Champions League final, against all precedent, will be available over the air on CBS. (And on Univisión, to which I personally am more loyal, since they have been there all along.)
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But CBS Sports is not even available on our cable network (Spectrum) except via a premium subscription, unlike NBCSN, ESPN & ESPN2, FS1, etc.
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I used to quite like Kate Abdo, but I’m not going to pay a premium price to watch her when I can get the game on the Univisión networks. Sorry. Clint Dempsey? *shrug* …
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Soccer broadcasters need to offer more to soccer fans, not less.
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Look forward to seeing Demosey again.
Oops, typo Dempsey
Clint has stayed away because he has 5 damn kids! That takes all his attention. Loved hearing his interview on the The Crack with Beasley and Onyewu. I love to see Duece back. I’ve missed him.
DEUCE IS BACK!!!! awesome.
Clint has always been really reserved during interviews and off the pitch, but let’s hope the angry fire comes out in the booth. I’d love for him to take the Charles Barkley Inside the NBA role and just roast everyone.
…but Chuck is an idiot, tho?!
I mean, yeah I’m not saying I want him to say the exact same stuff Chuck says lol however, the agitator and irreverent role he plays is great TV. I just want the analysis to be good and the broadcasts to be entertaining, not the deadpan, everything is awesome trash we sometimes get. The Micah Richards/Roy Keane dynamic for SKY is brilliant, and I’d love to see a Keane-like Clint.
Pretty impressive group, with the exception of Balboa…let’s hope he’s improved from his previous appearances….as far as the rest of the group, hope that the play analysis matches their play on the field…
He honestly has improved a lot from a few years ago, so give him a chance.
“with the exception of Balboa …”
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He used to be perfectly adequate on Univisión, even if his Spanish was, well, pretty American.
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Balboa will be missed on the Spanish-language coverage, but Diego Balado will more than compensate.
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This collection of personalities and past USMNT stars is pretty nice, can’t wait to see how it all comes together, although I’m already a big fan of the way Edu and Charlie Davies analyze the current state of USMNT soccer as well as MLS!