Veteran play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough was named the National Sports Media Association’s 2025 National Sportscaster of the Year on Thursday.
McDonough, who currently calls college football and NHL games for ESPN, will turn 63 this year. The Boston native was a longtime television voice of the Red Sox from 1988 through 2004, and rejoined the Red Sox as a member of their radio broadcast team in 2019.
His current broadcast partner on ESPN’s college football team, Greg McElroy, was the one who got to deliver the news to McDonough.
“We’re super fired up about this. This is just an amazing, amazing thing,” McElroy said. “I couldn’t be more excited to be the one who gets to deliver the news. And I don’t think it could be more well-deserved. He is our leader. He is our patriarch … He is Sean McDonough, and he is officially the 2025 NSMA Sportscaster of the Year.”
McDonough is the son of the late Will McDonough, the legendary Boston Globe columnist and NFL insider. He has made a name for himself as one of the most versatile broadcasters in the business, having covered many major events like the World Series, Stanley Cup Finals, March Madness, and the Olympics.
Upon receiving the news that he had won the award, McDonough said he was “speechless,” and kept his comments brief.
“I’ve joked I’ve been the Susan Lucci of that award,” McDonough said, referencing the soap opera actress who was nominated 18 consecutive times for a Daytime Emmy before finally winning in 1999.
“To have your peers feel that way about you, especially at this point in my life and career . . . wow,” McDonough said.
McDonough, McElroy and the ESPN crew is calling the Sugar Bowl Thursday night at 8 p.m.
Kevin Dillon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ByKevinDillon.
