Ex-Union players Sébastien Le Toux, Maurice Edu to call MLS games on Apple’s streaming platform

Major League Soccer announced its first round of hires for its telecasts of games on Apple’s streaming platform this year, and the roster has a significant Philly flavor.

Former Union captain Maurice Edu will be a game analyst in English, and longtime Union player Sébastien Le Toux — still the top scorer in team history, seven years after his last game here — will call games in French.

Edu has done TV work with Fox Sports for a few years now, as a studio and game analyst on the network’s coverage of MLS, the U.S. men’s national team, and the World Cup.

Le Toux has built his broadcasting chops as a studio analyst on the Union’s local TV broadcasts, and as a color analyst on the team’s radio broadcasts. Coincidentally, the news was announced on his 39th birthday.

Former U.S. women’s team and Philadelphia Independence player Lori Lindsey, who still lives in Philadelphia, will also call games in English. She has worked for ESPN for a few years now, and is in line to be part of Fox’s team at this year’s women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

» READ MORE: Apple TV becomes the new home of Major League Soccer with a 10-year deal for every game

In all, MLS announced five play-by-play voices, 10 analysts and three studio hosts.

The English-language hires so far all have long local and national experience: Max Bretos (Fox Sports, beIN Sports, Los Angeles FC), Jake Zivin (ESPN, Fox, Portland Timbers), and Steve Cangialosi (ESPN, NBC, New York Red Bulls).

The Spanish-language hire might be the biggest name of all: Pablo Ramírez, Univision’s lead soccer play-by-play voice for two decades. The Mexico native called games in Liga MX, the U.S. and Mexico national teams, and the men’s World Cup until Univision lost the rights after the 2014 tournament. The network laid him off last year in a major round of cost-cutting.

Frederic Lord will be the main game-caller in French, after a long run calling soccer for TVA Sports in Quebec. Apple will carry French-language broadcasts for the league’s three Canadian teams: CF Montréal, Toronto FC, and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The highest-profile game analyst hired so far is Taylor Twellman, who was ESPN’s lead soccer analyst for most of his 13 years with the network before leaving last week. There was immediate speculation when he left that he’d go to Apple, and indeed he did.

» READ MORE: MLS and Apple announce the price of their new streaming package

Other game analysts hired so far are Kyndra de St. Aubin (Fox, Minnesota United) and Danielle Slaton (Fox, San Jose Earthquakes) in English, and Marcelo Balboa (Univision, Colorado Rapids) in Spanish.

As for studio coverage, Jillian Sakovits (ESPN, Atlanta United) will be a pregame host in English with analyst Sacha Kljestan, a former New York Red Bulls and U.S. national team midfielder. Tony Cherchi (Univision) will host in Spanish with popular former Portland Timbers playmaker Diego Valeri.

The much-anticipated whiparound show — akin to NFL Red Zone — will be hosted by Liam McHugh, formerly of NBC Sports and now the host of TNT’s NHL studio coverage on weeknights. McHugh said he’ll continue to host TNT’s hockey coverage.

“Very lucky to have bosses gracious enough to allow me to pursue an opportunity in a sport I love,” he wrote on Twitter.

The lead analyst on the whiparound show will be charismatic former New York Red Bulls and LAFC striker Bradley Wright-Phillips.

» READ MORE: MLS announces a limited TV package to go with its big Apple streaming deal

MLS’s announcement said more hires are still to come. A few hours after the initial news, commissioner Don Garber said at a league-hosted media event that there will be 14 English-language broadcast teams, 14 Spanish broadcast teams, and three French broadcast teams. So there are a lot of openings still to fill.

But for now, there are some big absences, including three of the league’s longest-tenured and most popular play-by-play voices: JP Dellacamera (Union), Dave Johnson (D.C. United), and Joe Tutino (Los Angeles Galaxy).

Among the big-name analysts not on the initial list is Brian Dunseth, the longtime color analyst for Real Salt Lake’s local broadcast with experience at ESPN, Fox and NBC. A source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer that Dunseth will be involved, but it hasn’t been announced yet.

Whether former Union analyst Danny Higginbotham will be involved is unknown, though he has plenty of work to do with NBC and ESPN.

Dellacamera told The Inquirer that he heard last week that he was out, but since the fall he had “a sense that I was not going to be involved.” He added that his agent was not told of any potential future opportunities.

» READ MORE: JP Dellacamera says farewell after 13 years as the Union's lead TV play-by-play broadcaster

Though there won’t be local TV broadcasts anymore, MLS teams will be able to do local radio broadcasts that can be overlaid on the video feed carried by Apple. Dellacamera said that he has “not had any conversations with the Union” about doing their radio calls.

“I enjoyed my 13-year run with the Philadelphia Union, which ended with the Apple TV deal‚” said Dellacamera, whose souvenirs include a Supporters’ Shield ring and a jersey with his name on it. “It’s been so great working for a team, where you get to know the players, the coaches, the front office, the fans, and the city. So many of the greatest sports memories of my career are with the Philadelphia Union.”

Dellacamera still has two years left with Fox, where has called games for over a decade. He will be the network’s lead play-by-play voice at the women’s World Cup. He also calls some NWSL games for CBS.

Johnson told the Inquirer: “Naturally I am disappointed. But my love and passion for Major League Soccer is as strong as ever. Looking forward to 2023 and always eager to promote like I have done for more than half of my life.”

The new MLS season starts Feb. 25. Apple’s streaming pass for MLS games will cost $99 for the year or $14.99 per month, with discounts to $79 for the year or $12.99 per month for existing Apple TV+ subscribers. Some games will also be free on Apple’s streaming platform, but it’s not yet known how many will be free.

“I’m a huge fan, and Apple is a huge fan, of MLS and what we’re going to do together,” Apple’s senior vice president of services Eddy Cue said. “We’re going to bring all of Apple to this — this is not just a side thing, we really believe in it. We think the long-term opportunities here are huge for both of us.”

Fox will also carry a package of just over 30 games across its broadcast network, cable channel FS1, and Spanish cable channel Fox Deportes.

» READ MORE: Luke Wileman is the new TV voice of U.S. national team games on HBO Max and TNT