Fox Soccer continued building its coverage team for its return to MLS broadcasting on Thursday, when play-by-play man John Strong announced on Twitter that he has joined the network in a full-time capacity. The news was subsequently confirmed by an official release from Fox.
Strong previously served as NBC’s primary play-by-play man for MLS matches from the summer of 2013 until the expiration of the network’s deal with the league at the end of the 2014 season. Prior to joining NBC, Strong worked as the Portland Timbers play-by-play man.
Fox – along with ESPN and Univision Deportes – signed an eight-year deal in May with MLS and US Soccer to televise MLS and US national team matches through the end of 2022. The network will broadcast at least one MLS match nearly every Sunday during the MLS regular season, airing games primarily on Fox Sports 1.
Strong joins a team of American soccer heavyweights at Fox, which recently announced that former US national team defender and longtime ESPN commentator Alexi Lalas and ex-US international and current Tottenham ‘keeper Brad Friedel will join holdovers Rob Stone and Eric Wynalda as part of the network’s soccer coverage.
Strong also announced that veteran soccer producer Shaw Brown will be joining him at Fox. Brown served as NBC’s producer for its MLS coverage during the network’s three-year deal with the league.
