Maybe surprisingly, the Chicago White Sox and NBC Sports activities Chicago haven’t but introduced the return of broadcasting duo Jason Benetti and Steve Stone for the 2023 MLB season.
Per Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Solar-Occasions, each Benetti and Stone are anticipated to return. Nonetheless, Benetti’s deal would require carveouts for his nationwide work with Fox, very similar to his earlier deal did for his work with ESPN and Peacock.
An enormous a part of negotiations is the variety of video games Benetti will miss for his different commitments. Final 12 months, Benetti was the lead voice for Peacock’s bundle of early Sunday video games. That got here off his calendar when he joined Fox, for whom he has known as faculty soccer and basketball. He’ll add major-league baseball this season.
[…]
His final contract with the Sox didn’t specify an actual variety of video games he might miss. The Sox allowed him to name nationwide video games when he additionally labored for ESPN, however there wasn’t a set quantity, solely what was deemed cheap. It left the contract up for interpretation.
Benetti’s subsequent contract figures to incorporate an agreed-upon variety of video games he can miss, and the Sox and rights holder NBC Sports activities Chicago don’t need that quantity to alter. It’s a standard difficulty for native announcers who do nationwide work, however Benetti and the Sox have been on the identical web page.
I’m curious to what number of video games Benetti will find yourself lacking because of his Fox work. Final season in Milwaukee, Brian Anderson’s rising nationwide profile at WBD Sports activities lower his Brewers schedule right down to round 50 video games. I don’t suppose Benetti’s work with Fox will lower down his White Sox schedule that a lot, however with out full information of what Fox’s MLB schedule will seem like this season, it’s robust to find out how a lot time Benetti will likely be away from the White Sox.
[Chicago Sun-Times]