Veteran broadcaster Bob Costas believes Major League Baseball (MLB) could improve the viewing experience during nationally televised games by allowing fans to listen to their familiar local broadcasters instead of a national announcing team.
During a recent appearance with sports media personality Brodie Brazil, the longtime play-by-play voice suggested the league should explore ways to pair national television coverage with local audio feeds, giving viewers an option that better reflects how they normally follow their teams throughout the season.
Costas argued that baseball, more than many other sports, builds a daily connection between fans and the voices who describe the action on a local level, which makes the transition to national broadcasts feel jarring during the postseason or other marquee matchups carried by networks such as NBC Sports.
“When people say, especially in baseball, ‘I want to hear my own guys,’ as soon as they figure out how, they should be able to hear their own guys,” Costas said.
His argument centered on the idea that technology already allows networks and leagues to distribute multiple audio feeds while maintaining the same television presentation and commercial inventory, which would ensure ratings and advertising structures remain intact while also giving viewers greater choice.
“As long as you play the same commercials and it counts to it at the ratings. Why can’t you have your local voices do it,” questioned Costas. “It doesn’t matter how good the national voices are, especially in baseball, because it’s day to day.”
Costas noted that fans often develop a deep familiarity with their local broadcasters because those voices narrate nearly every game across a 162-game season, creating a rhythm and tone that becomes inseparable from the team itself.
Because of that connection, switching to a national broadcast team—even one composed of highly respected announcers—can sometimes feel disconnected from the everyday experience fans associate with following their club.
The veteran broadcaster explained that baseball’s cadence makes that relationship even more pronounced than in other sports, since teams play nearly every day and fans spend months listening to the same voices guide them through wins, losses and long summer stretches.
“This is what your team sounds like, and you want it to sound that way,” Costas said.
To illustrate his point, Costas referenced Cleveland Guardians radio voice Tom Hamilton, whose energetic calls have become synonymous with the franchise’s biggest moments. Costas suggested that Hamilton’s signature enthusiasm works perfectly within the context of Cleveland’s local broadcasts but might feel out of place if transplanted directly into a neutral national telecast.
“If you put Tom Hamilton on a national broadcast and he got just as excited, it would sound weird,” Costas said. “But it’s perfect on its own terms.”
While leagues and networks historically have relied on national announcers to maintain consistency across broad audiences, Costas believes evolving technology could allow baseball to maintain that structure while also accommodating the strong loyalty fans feel toward their hometown voices.
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