Turner Sports to hire ex-NBA star Nash ... as soccer analyst
TURNER Sports is closing in on a deal with former two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash to do … soccer, The Post has learned.
Sources told The Post that Nash would be a studio analyst, among other potential roles, on coverage of the UEFA Champions League — which switches from FOX Sports to Turner’s TNT, TBS, TruTV and a yet-to-be-named streaming service next year. The Champions League is the top club tournament in the world, featuring teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City.
At the present time, there are no plans for Nash to join Turner’s NBA coverage. He is currently the general manager of the Canadian national basketball team and a consultant for the Warriors.
Nash, 44, is more than just a passionate soccer fan. He has ownership stakes in the MLS’ Vancouver Whitecaps and Spanish club Mallorca. He is a huge Tottenham supporter in the English Premier League. His father and brother were both professional soccer players. His brother, Martin, earned 38 caps for the Canadian national team.
A source stressed the potential Nash hire is not a Gus Johnson-FOX situation at Turner, where Turner would be planning on trying to reinvent soccer broadcast with novices. In 2011, FOX hired Johnson to call the 2018 World Cup. The plan seemed doomed from the start because Johnson had no real soccer play-by-play experience, and the two sides ended the experiment years ago. Soccer enthusiasts were not fans of Johnson calling the premier matches in the sport or, really, any games.
Though Nash is an outside-thebox candidate, he is a bit different than Johnson, as he has expressed his passion for soccer for years. The rest of Turner’s studio and game analysts are expected to be more traditional choices.
As far as its soccer play-by-players, Turner also plans to play it straight, so you won’t get to hear Marv Albert say, “Messi at the 18 …. Yes!”
ESPN had some interest in Kevin Burkhardt over the summer, but talks never became serious because of Burkhardt’s desire to stay at FOX, according to sources. He just signed a new three-year deal. Burkhardt would have been a prime candidate to be the “Sunday Night Baseball” play-byplayer or, if he had waited to do a deal, “Monday Night Football.”
Instead, Burkhardt just finalized his new contract and is staying in Los Angeles as the network’s lead studio host on baseball and No. 2 play-by-player on the NFL, among other responsibilities.
Though the aforementioned Johnson, said to be a favorite of FOX Sports president Eric Shanks, is a candidate for “Thursday Night Football,” FOX could choose to accommodate Burkhardt’s travel issues, as the baseball playoffs and TNF telecasts will overlap. It would be difficult, but not impossible.
If Peyton Manning were to sign on with FOX, it would not be shocking if he had a voice in who his partner may be.
Besides Burkhardt, ESPN has shown an interest in networks’ No. 2 NFL play-by-players for MNF. Before Sean McDonough was hired to replace Mike Tirico, they checked in on Ian Eagle’s availability. Eagle remained at CBS. Eagle also just re-signed with CBS, so he is out of the current MNF picture.
As The Post reported last week, McDonough remains in the Monday night booth, but ESPN is considering a total reboot — especially if it can lure Manning.
It was sort of weird that the “retired” Mike Francesa would make an appearance on 710 WOR with Sal Licata for an hour a week ago, but there was no publicity beforehand. That’s because Francesa informed WOR personnel just a day before that he would be in studio. Call it first-time, long-time privileges.
Licata and his producer, Joe Curci, were trying to have Francesa on since his last show with WFAN in late December. Francesa decided last Tuesday would be the day, but there was no advanced hype.
When you think about it, WOR is one of the only places that could ac- commodate Francesa — he “retired” from WFAN, and ESPN would not have him on because Francesa has had harsh comments for Bristol over the years.
During the WOR session, Licata did a solid job with the help of callers, coaxing some news out of Francesa that he will reunite with Chris Russo. The Post later reported it will be for one day on Russo’s MLB Network show, “High Heat,” late next month. Francesa is able to come out of “retirement” on April 1, when the non-compete clause in his WFAN contract expires. According to someone who has talked to him recently, “Mike wants to work.”
Mike Patrick’s ESPN career is over — and it was quite a run. Patrick was the first play-by-play voice on ESPN’s NFL coverage and called its prime-time games for 17 years. He was the voice of Duke-Carolina for countless years with Dick Vitale. He also called 14 women’s Final Fours. Though there was a press release announcing the conclusion of his career, Patrick, 73, is not necessarily retiring.