Brian Anderson Extends Deal With Warner Bros. Discovery to Call Baseball, Tennis, NCAA Basketball

Brian Anderson likes to be prepared before he gets into the media booth to call a game.

It’s something the longtime Warner Bros. Discovery sportscaster has tried to practice. Learning before announcing, he says, “is my compass,” and he has turned down opportunities to call games in sports in which he felt he was not well-versed. Anderson is best known for calling baseball games on the company’s TBS cable network, and when he once was offered a chance to call hockey matches, he says, he opted not to pursue it, because “I’ve never covered it. I haven’t followed it in my life.”

Maybe he’ll get a chance to get grounded in it. Anderson has signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports that is expected to keep him with the company through what will become a more than 20-year tenure. Anderson originally joined what is now known as TNT Sports in 2008 and his new pact will make him one of the announcers for the company’s new coverage of the French Open, which starts in late May.

The renewal “was unexpected,” says Anderson, who says he still has a year left on his current deal. “But I’m very happy to continue.”

Anderson has taken viewers through Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 National League Division Series, just the second game of its kind in the post-season history of Major League Baseball, as well as critical moments from Steph Curry and LeBron James.

His presence can help Warner Bros. Discovery, which is working to show the sports fans who tune in regularly for its NBA, NHL and MLB broadcasts that they have new reasons to stick around. Warner has in recent weeks unveiled new additions to its portfolio, including college football and the French Open even as the company prepares itself for the loss of its longstanding NBA rights after the league’s next season. Keeping mainstays like Anderson in place will likely lend some help to the cause.

Key to his work ethic, Anderson says, is being ready. That means steeping himself in both games and production tactics and developing deeper interests in the sports he covers. “I enjoy learning the history of these individuals, these leagues, these teams, the incredible competitions,” he says.

To get ready to call Roland-Garros, Anderson will travel to Paris in a few weeks, “just to acclimate, to embed…to learn as much as I can.” He will return a week before the tournament starts up “to soak up as much as I can.” The trips represent “an opportunity for me to sharpen my tennis commentary skills.”

He continues to call Milwaukee Brewers games for MLB and NCAA “March Madness” basketball for Warner Bros. Discovery.

And even though more of the sports telecasts he covers will be reaching viewers via streaming venues, Anderson thinks he can keep doing things the way he’s already learned. “Our jobs don’t change much,” he says. “We have to prepare for the games.”