Magic part ways with longtime radio broadcasters
Orlando Magic radio announcers Dennis Neumann, Richie Adubato and Joey Colon will not be back with the team for the 2020-21 season. The organization decided not to renew their contracts.
Neumann, Adubato and Colon, who had a combined 66 seasons of broadcasting Magic games, were notified of the team’s decision last week. Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement the move is related to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Magic will continue to have a radio presence moving forward. The team will use its television broadcasts on radio and continue to produce its podcasts.
“Our business, as well as many others like us, continue to be impacted by the pandemic,” Martins said in a statement to the Sentinel. “We have had to make some very hard business decisions in these unprecedented times, and we made the difficult decision to reorganize our efforts in regard to radio. Moving forward, we will simulcast our radio and television game broadcasts. To those impacted, we’ve provided fair severance, outplacement services and health and wellness options.”
Neumann completed his 29th season as a member of the Magic’s broadcasting team and 22nd as the team’s play-by-play radio announcer.
Adubato finished his 15th season as the team’s radio color analyst. The New Jersey native is the only coach in history to lead teams to the playoffs in both the the NBA and WNBA.
Colon completed his 22nd season as the Spanish play-by-play announcer for the Magic.
The Magic laid off 31 full-time employees from a staff of about 300 workers in July. Martins said in a statement at the time that the franchise, like many organizations across the country, had to take cost-cutting measures due to the adverse financial impact of the pandemic.
In mid-March, the Magic ownership group — the DeVos family — funded a $2 million compensation package to pay 1,800 hourly workers for the Magic, Amway Center, Lakeland Magic and Orlando Solar Bears for remaining regular-season games those part-time employees would have worked.
Magic players also pooled donations in support of hourly workers, providing assistance in addition to the funds provided by the DeVos family.
In addition, Magic coach Steve Clifford made a donation to the Heart of Florida United Way to help the organization provide financial assistance to those most affected by the pandemic.