Former MLB, NFL, and college football broadcaster Thom Brennaman will return to the broadcast booth next month calling games for the Pac-2 and ACC on The CW, The Athletic first reported. Brennaman used an anti-gay slur during a Reds-Royals game in August 2020 and went viral on social media for having his apology cut short by a Nick Castellanos home run.
After the incident, Brennaman lost his jobs with Fox Sports and the Reds, the team for whom his father Marty did play-by-play for 46 years.
The Athletic story cited “the work he has done reaching out to the gay community, both in Cincinnati and nationally.” For his part, Brennaman said, “It was mainly about listening to people.”
Brennaman has mostly worked in the fringes of sports since the incident, calling winter baseball and high school football.
The CW has built up its sports offerings over the years, including in 2023 securing 50 ACC football and basketball games annually through the ’26–27 school year. Brennaman cold-emailed the CEO of The CW’s parent company, Nexstar Media, after seeing him in his college’s magazine, according to The Athletic. Brennaman heard back from his fellow Ohio University alumnus Perry Sook the next day, the outlet reported.
Brennaman and Castellanos—then with the Reds, now with the Phillies—will be forever linked from that August 2020 broadcast. After Brennaman was caught on a hot mic using the slur, he apologized during the game. “I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” Brennaman said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart that I am so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, that will be a home run, and so that will make it a 4–0 ball game.”
Castellanos has since become infamous for his ability to interrupt somber moments on a broadcast with home runs. He’s homered during multiple tributes to people who are sick or have died. Sometimes it isn’t a jinx, but simply aligning with the news cycle. He hit it out of the park on the day former president Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt, and one week later when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
The announcer’s first call will be Oregon State–Idaho State on Aug. 31, though The Athletic reports he will mostly cover the ACC.
“There are no words to describe how grateful I am that they’re rolling the dice,” Brennaman said to The Athletic. “They don’t have to do this.”
