Thom Brennaman to return to broadcasting 4 years after ‘hot-mic’ incident

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Longtime MLB sports broadcaster Thom Brennaman is set to return to broadcasting after an on-air slur nearly four years ago.

The New York Times’ sports column, The Athletic, reported Sunday that Brennaman will join The CW’s Pac-12 package, where he will call ACC football games.

“There are no words to describe how grateful I am that they’re rolling the dice,” Brennaman told The Athletic.

While working with FOX Sports, Brennaman was a prominent broadcaster and the voice heard from the Cincinnati Reds’ booth.

In August 2020, Brennaman was pulled off the air and suspended from working Cincinnati Reds games after making an anti-gay slur that was heard on the FOX Sports Ohio broadcast. He was also suspended from FOX Sports.

ESPN reported that the comment was made after a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning of the Reds and the Kansas City Royals game in Kansas City. He later apologized on camera.

“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry,” Brennaman said.

Brennaman’s coverage for CW will begin with Pac-2 coverage of the Idaho State-Oregon football game on Aug. 31, according to Sports Mediawatch.

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