The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) today announced ESPN’s Max Bretos as the Club’s Lead Broadcaster and Head of Content. Bretos will serve as the play-by-play voice on all locally televised English-language LAFC matches on YouTube TV. YouTube TV is a new, cable-free live TV service and the “Official Live TV Partner” and “Official Video Partner” of LAFC. The remainder of the LAFC broadcast team, as well as a comprehensive broadcast package featuring a local, over-the-air Spanish-language broadcast partner and partnerships with both English and Spanish-language radio stations will be announced prior to the start of the season.
Bretos will also be the host and director of original LAFC programming and content on the Club’s designated YouTube TV channel in the service, including a 30-minute pre and post-game show from the YouTube TV Studio set at Banc of California Stadium.
“Max is a world class talent and a nationally known soccer expert,” LAFC President & Co-Owner Tom Penn said. “He is the perfect Lead Broadcaster to collaborate with YouTubeTV and create first class game broadcasts and innovative complementary programming.”
One of the most pre-eminent soccer personalities in the country, Bretos joins LAFC while in his eighth year with ESPN, where he will continue to work. He has worked on nearly every show ESPN offered, eventually becoming one of the main faces for ESPN’s flagship show, SportsCenter. He has anchored ESPN’s MLS Cup coverage for seven of the last eight years and handled play-by-play duties on ESPN’s coverage of Euro 2016. Bretos will now be based out of ESPN’s Los Angeles Production Center covering SportsCenter and other duties.
“I don’t know if I can properly express how excited I am for this opportunity,” Bretos said. “Having lived in L.A. for 15 years, I know first-hand what the World’s Game means to this city. I met my wife in L.A. and my son was born here – to be able to return here to create content and help voice the soundtrack for this new Club is a dream come true.”
Bretos developed the “Max and Herc” soccer podcast with Herculez Gomez, which has become one of the most popular podcasts in the ESPN’s stable of podcasts.
Prior to joining ESPN in 2010, Bretos was the face of Fox Sports World/Fox Soccer Channel, handling announcing duties for soccer leagues from Argentina to England, from MLS and Liga MX to Italy’s Serie A. Bretos also served five seasons as the main broadcaster for the Galaxy.
The LAFC-YouTube TV partnership is the first partnership of its kind in North American professional sports, where all locally televised matches are on a live TV streaming provider. The club has a league-high 16 matches broadcast nationally on ESPN, FOX, FS1 and Univision, which will also be carried on YouTube TV.
Locally televised LAFC matches will be geo-fenced and available only in the Los Angeles market on YouTube TV. Together with additional matches broadcast nationally on ESPN, FOX and FS1, YouTube TV will be the home for 30 of LAFC’s 34 English-language matches, the most across any distribution provider.
YouTube TV launched in April 2017 to provide audiences around the country with a new, more flexible way to enjoy their favorite live TV programming – including local sports and news – without a cable box. For $40 a month, YouTube TV includes over 50 networks. LAFC fans in Los Angeles will have access to live local feeds from KABC 7, CBS 2, KTTV FOX 11 and KNBC 4, plus popular cable networks like TNT, TBS, CNN, ESPN, AMC and FX and local sports networks such as NBC Sports and FOX Sports. YouTube TV is also expanding to all top 100 U.S. markets
YouTube TV Includes:
- Over 50 networks, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, plus popular cable networks like TNT, TBS, CNN, ESPN, AMC, and FX, and local sports networks from NBC Sports, FOX Sports, and NESN in select markets.
- Ability to watch on any screen - mobile, tablet or computer - and easily streamed to your TV with apps built for Roku (new!), Apple TV (new!), Xbox One, Android TVs and Samsung and LG 2016 and 2017 smart TVs; and Chromecast, Chromecast built-in TVs, and AirPlay through Apple TV.
- A cloud DVR, with no storage space limits that travels with you within the United States so you can stream recordings on any device, whenever and wherever you want. It enables you to record live TV and never run out of storage space, plus record shows simultaneously, without using precious data or space on your phone. Your programs are stored for nine months.
- Six accounts per household, each with its own unique recommendations and personal DVR with no storage space limits.
- Half the cost of cable with zero commitments. A YouTube TV membership is only $35 a month (if you sign up before March 13) and there are no commitments – you can cancel anytime.
