It’s been a decade since Landon Donovan first began broadcasting. He started as a FS1 guest analyst in 2013 and as a studio analyst for ESPN’s 2014 FIFA World Cup coverage, then worked on Fox’s Copa America Centenario coverage as both a game and studio analyst in 2016.
After those early moves, Donovan has since gone into broadcasting on a more regular basis since ending his playing career. Most notably, he worked as a game analyst alongside famed play-by-play voice Ian Darke on Fox’s 2022 FIFA World Cup coverage. Now, he and Darke are the lead team for Fox’s UEFA Euro 2024 coverage. On a media call the two did this week, Donovan said he wasn’t sure about broadcasting at first and doesn’t think he did well initially, but he’s worked hard to improve.
“Candidly, when I first started, I had no idea if I would like it and no idea if I would be good at it. I enjoyed it, but I was terrible at it. And it’s just like anything; more practice, more repetition, more dedication to it, and you should get better. My ceiling was very high because I was at the very, very bottom.”
Donovan said highly–praised NFL on Fox analyst Greg Olsen (who’s spoken about the athlete-to-broadcaster transition himself) and the insight he brings has been a particular inspiration for his own work.
“Over time, watching other people and listening to other people, I think my biggest takeaway was ‘Can you add something to the game that the audience wasn’t aware of?’ I watch a lot of sports, I love watching sports; someone like Greg Olsen, every time I watch a game, and I can probably count on my two hands every time I’ve watched a sporting event and said, when either the play-by-play or color person said something, ‘Oh, I’d never actually thought about that.’
“Because I know sports, I’ve played sports my entire life. So when I watch someone like Greg and a handful of others, I come away going ‘Oh, I actually learned a little bit about the game.’ So that is my number-one [priority] when I go into every game now; I don’t have to force it, but if there’s something I see that I think I can add, I’m going to add.”
Donovan said he’s also learned the value of not talking just to talk, especially when working with a commentator as renowned as Darke.
“And then the other pieces, it’s okay to just shut up. I mean, Ian can carry a game by himself, and given the two of us, they definitely want to hear him speak more than me. So I’m not going to add anything unless I feel like it’s valuable.”
Donovan said he’s enjoying partnering with Darke again, with the veteran commentator’s experience helpful to learn from.
“It’s been nice to be reconnected with Ian. We, I believe, grew a lot in Qatar together. I’m still learning this world, and Ian is a professional in every way, so it’s enjoyable for me to be back with Ian.”
Before their broadcasting partnership, those two were linked by Darke’s famed call of Donovan’s for the U.S. against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Donovan said he didn’t actually hear that call until the next day, but it still resounds with him.
“We were almost as far as you could be away from America, remember? Not only time-zone wise, but the internet didn’t exist back then, social media, certainly not the way it does today. And so we were a little bit far removed. There were obviously a lot of messages from friends and family, texts and stuff like that.
“But it wasn’t until the next morning when Michael Kammarman, the press officer for U.S. Soccer, pulled me at breakfast and said ‘You might want to see this,’ and he had compiled the fan reaction video. And I also hadn’t listened to Ian’s call, because that wasn’t really on our radar. So then we just spent about an hour going through videos, including the call. And you know, as I talk about it now, 14 years later, it still gives me goosebumps. It was a special moment.”
Darke’s had a ton of notable calls over his decades of soccer broadcasting, but he said that one still stands out for him.
“I think it is really the one I’ll always remember. I think it is the only time I’ve had that kind of reaction to a call. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe what I’d said in that USA-Algeria game until I got back to the hotel. And I had a lot of radio stations in the United States trying to get ahold of me, so I spent the whole evening [doing that], but I still hadn’t heard what I’d said.
“It’s quite humbling, really; you hope you find the right soundtrack to a moment like that. But look, I was just the guy calling the goal; Landon was the guy who did the hard work of putting it in the back of the net.”
Donovan said it’s great for him to get to work with Darke, and to extend their connection beyond that goal.
“It’s really special, and I hope not just because we were both part of that goal, but because I also merit being here. It’s enjoyable to work with Ian and he just makes it really enjoyable and easy for me. So I just look forward to these moments.”
He said he also enjoys the whole atmosphere around a big tournament like this.
“I really, really enjoy these events, the tournaments especially because you’re immersed in it; the train was filled with Scottish fans today, when the German national anthem and the Scottish national anthem are playing on Friday, it’s electric. How could you not enjoy that as a human being, just that energy?”
There’s a neat aspect for Donovan with this one taking place in Germany, as he started his professional career there with Bayer Leverkusen, and some of the matches are even at that team’s BayArena home. He said that brings back memories for him, and he even ran into someone he used to play with.
“Back in Germany…on the train on the way here, a guy leaned over to me and said ‘Landon?’ I said ‘Yes,’ and it was a guy I played with at Leverkusen when I was 18 years old. It’s bringing back a lot of memories, good memories. And we drove by BayArena last night on the way in from the Dusseldorf airport. It’s nice to be back here.”
And he said he’s thrilled to get to keep broadcasting as well.
“I love it, I really enjoy it, I’m taking it very seriously now. And my only disappointment this tournament is that we don’t get to have a set and a studio to be a part of as well, because that part of it’s really enjoyable too. But I’m really enjoying it.”
Donovan said the Euro tournaments are special given the match-in, match-out quality of play.
“I’m really excited to do this tournament. I’ve said to many people I think this is the best soccer tournament in the world competition-wise; the World Cup is obviously more prestigious, more exciting, but the quality of every match is really special. I think right after that is probably Copa America, and I think a lot of the world doesn’t pay attention to Copa America, but the quality of the teams and players is really high.”
And he said it’s been remarkable to see the interest in both this and the simultaneous Copa America from American fans, even people he didn’t know cared about soccer.
“This is the first time it’s really hit me in the face this way,” Donovan said. “Before I was leaving, in about the month leading up to this, just anecdotally, the number of people who I had no idea knew anything about soccer, friends of mine, people I golf with, whatever, are so excited for the Euros. And I didn’t even think they knew it was on.
“And it would be one thing if they were just ‘Oh, you’re going to the Euros, that should be fun’ or whatever, but just the level of excitement for it. And then Copa America being in America, it’s kind of a no-brainer; people actually I would say would have been more aware of Copa America, but I’m just shocked at how many people are excited for and going to be tuning in for the Euros.”
The latest
- Marcus Spears talks chicken sandwich contest, Jason Kelce, Dan Orlovsky, and how food ‘can save the world’
- Rob Manfred previously dismissed golden at-bat idea as ‘crazy’ to ‘Dan Le Batard Show’
- DAZN secures global media rights for 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
- ESPN employees furious over changes to year-end ‘Credit Roll’
“The amount of soccer on TV in America has increased the popularity of both this tournament and Copa America both,” he said. “All of these players now, because there’s so much soccer on TV in America, there’s so many players that the American audience is aware of that they never would have been aware of before. The American audience loves stars, right?”
And he said that’s a massive change from what he remembers.
“When I think about growing up, I literally could not find soccer on TV to watch, quite literally. We had five or six stations, and there was no soccer on TV. When you juxtapose that with the amount of soccer that is consumed by people today, I know we all want soccer to grow faster in the States, but it’s only been 35 years. It is incredible, if you are a soccer fan in America, how much soccer you can consume now.”
Donovan said the next few years of soccer are going to be particularly special for U.S. fans given all the big tournaments, including three in North America.
“If you think about the next 24 months, 30 months, you get to wake up in the morning this summer and watch the Euros, all day you get to watch Copa America, next summer if you’re a U.S. fan or a CONCACAF fan you get to watch the Gold Cup, and then in 26, you get the World Cup here, not to mention the Olympics this summer.
“So if you’re a soccer fan, the amount of soccer that you get to consume with national teams the next few years might be unprecedented, especially considering that Copa America, the Gold Cup and the World Cup are all going to be in America. So it’s an amazing time to be alive, especially if you’re a U.S. soccer fan.”
Our Euro 2024 group stage announcing schedule can be seen here.
