American sportscaster
This article is about the sportscaster. For the American author with the same name, see
Stephen L. Nelson
.
Stephen Nelson
(born March 8, 1989) is an American television personality and play-by-play commentator who works for
ESPN
and the
Los Angeles Dodgers
of
Major League Baseball
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Nelson grew up in
Southern California
and attended
Marina High School
in
Huntington Beach, California
. He went on to attend
Chapman University
, where he majored in broadcast journalism. Nelson was the sports director for
Chapman Radio
, where he served as the lead play-by-play broadcaster for school sports games.
During his time at Chapman, Nelson interned for
KTLA-TV
and
Fox Sports West
. He also worked as a camera operator and in-game production assistant for the
Anaheim Angels
and
Anaheim Ducks
.
In 2011, Nelson graduated
magna cum laude
from Chapman.
Career
[
edit
]
After graduating from Chapman, Nelson worked as a multimedia broadcaster for the
Rockford IceHogs
during the 2011?12 season. Nelson hosted the pre- and post-game shows, as well as the intermission reports, in addition to filling in as a play-by-play broadcaster and color commentator.
From June 2012 to August 2014, Nelson was a sports reporter and anchor for
KEZI-TV
in
Eugene, Oregon
.
In August 2014, Nelson joined
Bleacher Report
as an on-air talent.
In March 2018, Nelson left Bleacher Report to join
MLB Network
and
NHL Network
. In March 2021, after MLB Network declined to renew
Chris Rose
’s contract, Nelson was named the new co-host of
Intentional Talk
alongside
Kevin Millar
.
[1]
In November 2021, Nelson served as the fill-in play-by-play commentator for three
Chicago Blackhawks
games on
NBC Sports Chicago
.
[2]
[3]
In 2022, Nelson became the primary play-by-play announcer for the MLB Network-produced
Friday Night Baseball
on
Apple TV+
.
[4]
On January 20, 2023, the
Los Angeles Dodgers
named Nelson to their broadcast team for games on
SportsNet LA
that are not broadcast by lead play-by-play announcer
Joe Davis
. Nelson called joining the Dodgers' broadcast team "a defining moment" in his career and personal, as he represents the Asian American Pacific Islander community in sports broadcasting. Upon joining the Dodgers, Nelson was the only Asian American play-by-play broadcaster working for a Major League team.
[5]
On November 11, 2023, Nelson joined
ESPN
as a
SportsCenter
anchor, based in Los Angeles, joining a rotation with
Stan Verrett
and
Linda Cohn
. This followed the departures of
Neil Everett
and
Ashley Brewer
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Nelson is half-Japanese through his mother, Flo, and attended a Japanese school while growing up. Nelson used Japanese to introduce
Shohei Ohtani
at the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award ceremony in October 2021.
Nelson is married to news anchor Cori Coffin.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Rigdon, Jay (March 23, 2021).
"Stephen Nelson is the new co-host of MLB Network's Intentional Talk"
. Awful Announcing
. Retrieved
November 23,
2021
.
- ^
Bucholtz, Andrew (September 30, 2021).
"Blackhawks name broadcast and content team, including four fill-in TV announcers and four former players"
. Awful Announcing
. Retrieved
November 23,
2021
.
- ^
Agrest, Jeff (November 11, 2021).
"Pat Foley prepares fans for Blackhawks game on ESPN+ as only he can"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
. Retrieved
November 23,
2021
.
- ^
"Your 2022 MLB regular season broadcasting primer"
.
Awful Announcing
. April 6, 2022
. Retrieved
May 28,
2022
.
- ^
Osborne, Cary (January 20, 2023).
"Stephen Nelson joins the Dodger broadcast team"
.
Dodger Insider
. Retrieved
January 20,
2023
.
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English announcers
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Spanish announcers
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Korean announcers
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Radio stations
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Television stations
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Cable television
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