Sean McDonough

Sean McDonough, the son of Boston Globe sportswriter Will McDonough, graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1984 with a degree in broadcast journalism. His career in sports broadcasting began in Syracuse in 1982, serving as the play-by-play announcer for the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. During college, he was also involved with WAER-FM sports department and provided play-by-play commentary for Syracuse Chiefs baseball games. McDonough’s early career also included roles as a sideline reporter and play-by-play announcer for Ivy League football on PBS from 1984 to 1987. In 1981, he gained initial experience as an intern at the Enterprise Radio Network.

From 1988 to 2004, McDonough broadcast Boston Red Sox games on various local television stations, including WSBK-TV, WFXT, WABU, and WLVI. He also hosted select Boston Bruins games on WSBK-TV, notably covering the last game at the old Boston Garden in 1995. He partnered with Jerry Remy for nine seasons on Red Sox broadcasts. In 2019, he returned to Red Sox coverage as a part-time play-by-play announcer for the team’s radio network, becoming a permanent part-time announcer alongside Joe Castiglione, Will Flemming, and Lou Merloni in 2020. His work with CBS Sports from 1990 to 1999 included broadcasting college basketball (including 10 NCAA tournaments), college football (including the Orange Bowl), the College World Series, NFL games, US Open tennis, three Winter Olympics, and golf (including the Masters and PGA Championships).

Since 2000, McDonough has been a prominent voice for ESPN and ABC, covering a wide array of sports such as baseball, college basketball, college football, golf, NBA, NHL, and NCAA hockey. He announced many Big East college football and basketball events and has contributed to ESPN’s coverage of the U.S. Open and British Open golf tournaments. Notably, he called the 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship Final Four. From 2016 to 2017, McDonough served as the lead play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football. In 2021, he became the lead play-by-play voice for NHL coverage on ESPN and ABC, a role he had previously held on ESPN2 from 1993 to 2004 with Brian Engblom.