Crew announced 2020 local broadcast team, schedule

With the first kick of Columbus Crew SC’s 25 Major League Soccer season just over a week away, the Black & Gold announced on Friday the club’s broadcast team and local broadcast schedule for 2020.

FOX Sports Ohio and SportsTime Ohio return again as the broadcast partner for the Crew, as part of the multi-year agreement reached in 2019. Between the two networks, all 33 of the Black & Gold’s regionally scheduled regular season games will be televised in 2020. This coverage will include a 30-minute pre- and post-game show. In addition, the coverage of each Crew regular season regional match with stream live on the FOX Sports GO app.

Along with the regular season television schedule came the announcement of the 2020 broadcast crew which will call all 33 of the regional broadcasts. Returning to the booth this year is play-by-play broadcaster Neil Sika. He will be joined by analyst Jordan Angeli and sideline/host Brett Hiltbrand.

“We are excited for the 2020 season to get underway and I know that our supporters can continue to look forward to entertaining and high-quality television broadcasts via our continued partnership with FOX Sports Ohio and SportsTime Ohio,” Crew President and General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in the releasee announcing the schedule and the crew. “Bringing viewers all the action is a group of talented broadcasters and we are pleased to not only welcome back Neil Sika, but are thrilled to introduce Jordan Angeli to the booth in the analyst role and have Brett Hiltbrand with us for the entire season on the sideline. We look forward to the analysis, expertise, access and storytelling that our TV broadcast will bring supporters, beginning with Opening Match on March 1.”

Sika returns to his play-by-play duties with the Crew for the 14th season after joining the club as the radio announcer full-time in 2007. Sika initially began calling games for the Black & Gold in 2004 and had previous stints as the announcer for Ohio State hockey (2003-2008) and for Ohio State baseball (2004-2005). Sika has plenty of other work on his résumé, including ESPN, Spectrum Sports, the Big Ten Network, Pac12 Network, CBS Sports Network and Sirius XM’s coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Angeli is a new arrival to the Crew broadcast team in 2020, joining Sika in the booth as an analyst. The arrival of Angeli marks a historic milestone, as she becomes the first female to hold a full-time TV analyst role in club history. Most recently, Angeli worked with the Colorado Rapids from 2016-2019, serving as the in-stadium host in 2016 before taking on the role of radio analyst for all of the Rapids’ 2017 matches. In addition to that, Angeli hosted the Colorado Rapids’ digital pregame show, Tailgate Live, and filled in on Altitude TV’s Rapids’ broadcast. Prior to getting into commentary work, Angeli played professional soccer for the Boston Breakers (2010-2012) and the Washington Spirit (2014) of Women’s Professional Soccer League, as well as for the Western New York Flash (2015) of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Hiltband will provide sideline coverage for all of the Crew’s regular season matches in 2020 after working in the same role last year in a part-time capacity. Hiltbrand will also host the pre-match, halftime and post-game coverage for all Crew home games. Prior to his time with the Black & Gold, Hiltbrand appeared regularly on Spectrum News 1, covering Ohio State and high school football. His other experience includes working as a sports anchor for WJAC-TV (2015-2017), WVVA-TV (2013-2015), WSAZ (2012-2013), as well as getting his start behind the camera for NBC4 in Columbus (2006-2012).