{"id":546441,"date":"2026-01-30T20:29:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/546441\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T20:29:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:29:36","slug":"its-official-anthony-rizzo-is-joining-nbcs-baseball-coverage-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/546441\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s official: Anthony Rizzo is joining NBC\u2019s baseball coverage team"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this article<\/a> noting that former Cub Anthony Rizzo was being considered by NBC as an analyst as the network returns to national baseball broadcasts in 2026.<\/p>\n

The outgoing Rizzo has been the most aggressive about seeking a post-baseball media career. The 36-year-old former Yankee star was a hit with the media in the tough New York market.<\/p>\n

\u201cRizz played the New York media better than anybody\u2014and that\u2019s not easy,\u201d one source previously told FOS. \u201cHe always had a smile on his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

As we know from Rizzo\u2019s decade with the Cubs, he always had a smile on his face while here and became the face of the franchise as they won the 2016 World Series. If you were at the Cubs Convention this month (and managed to get into the sessions) or watched the Convention via Marquee Sports Network, you know that Rizzo was funny, glib and engaging while talking about that World Series year and other happenings while he was a Cub.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear exactly what role Rizzo will have with NBC, though this article<\/a> indicates that he could be part of a trio along with former Dodger Clayton Kershaw and former Reds star Joey Votto, both of whom were also hired by NBC. Kershaw, per the Front Office Sports article, is expected to work a \u201climited schedule.\u201d As for Votto:<\/p>\n

As one sports TV producer previously told FOS about Votto, who spent 17 years with the Reds: \u201cJoey Votto is, in my opinion, a no-brainer. He\u2019s an MVP. He has a national name. He\u2019s a natural in front of the camera.\u201d Added another media source: \u201cIf NBC wants to make a splash with Sunday Night Baseball, Joey would be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having Rizzo, Kershaw and Votto as part of Sunday Night Baseball\u2019s pre-game show would be must-see TV for any baseball fan. Or, any or all of them could wind up as a game analyst at times.<\/p>\n

So far, NBC has done all the right things in returning to national baseball broadcasting for the first time in more than 25 years. There have been rumors that the network is trying to engage Jason Benetti as their lead broadcaster for Sunday Night Baseball, which would also be an outstanding choice.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also likely see Rizzo around Wrigley Field fairly often in his role as a Cubs ambassador, and the team does have plans to have a 10th anniversary celebration of the 2016 World Series team at some point this year, though a date has not been announced.<\/p>\n

The Cubs are scheduled to appear three times on SNB: May 31 vs. the Cardinals at St. Louis, June 7 vs. the Giants at Wrigley Field and Aug. 30 vs. the Reds at Wrigley Field. The Cubs vs. Cardinals game at Wrigley Field Sunday, July 5 will be carried by Peacock as part of NBC\u2019s \u201cStar-Spangled Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A couple of weeks ago, I posted this article noting that former Cub Anthony Rizzo was being considered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,7407,4245,161,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-546441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicago-cubs-news","12":"tag-chicagocubs","13":"tag-cubs","14":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115985944904287184","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}