There have been a lot of different alternate broadcast approaches, but one of the more unusual recent ones is pairing athletes from different sports. Former NBA All-Star Jamal Crawford and former MLB All-Star Dexter Fowler tried their hands at this on three NBA League Pass Courtside Crawsover altcasts this season. They’re now taking that partnership to MLB Tuesday night for MLB Tonight: Crawsover Edition, doing that alongside host Matt Vasgersian.
MLB Network has been doing alternate broadcasts under the Clubhouse Edition brand since 2021, but they’ve tried several different approaches. The early altcasts saw former players and a host in a conversational format on a specific game, with this serving as a high-profile TV debut opportunity for analysts including CC Sabathia (a key force behind the initial idea) and Chris Young. NHL Network then did its own version of the concept, and MLBN carried on with its approach.
Last year, Fowler joined Sabathia, Young, and Siera Santos for a Clubhouse Edition broadcast that shifted the format to whiparound coverage of the whole evening’s games. That will be the format for what he and Crawford (who have worked together on those aforementioned NBA altcasts) will do Tuesday night alongside Vasgersian, with that broadcast beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. And they’ll have a wide range of guests from across baseball and beyond, including past MLB star Ken Griffey Jr. (also known for a new golf show of his own), NBA forward Paolo Banchero, NHL forward (and recent NHL on TNT guest analyst) Pat Maroon, and rap star Bun B.
This is the first of two planned MLB Network specials with Fowler and Crawford. It’s a production partnership with Courtside Crawsover. MLB Network senior coordinating producer Marty Montalto told Awful Announcing the network is excited to feature a famed athlete from a different sport in Crawford, plus guests from outside MLB.
“We’ve produced multiple altcasts and watchalongs through the years, but this will be the first time we incorporate athletes from a different sport into the broadcast,” Montalto said. “On a night where we will be able to jump in live to parts of 13 different games across the league, I’m really looking forward to seeing world-class athletes from one sport react and express their appreciation of the world-class athletes in MLB.”
An MLB Network release on this featured all three of the hosts weighing in on what will make this altcast special:
“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with Jamal, Matt and MLB Network for a night like this,” said Fowler. “Getting the chance to talk baseball with some of the biggest stars and find out how they fell in love with the game will be great. Jamal has a passion for baseball and we’re always going back-and-forth on different stuff happening in the game, so it’ll be fun for fans to see a little bit of that.”
“I’ve always loved the crossover appeal of every sport,” said Crawford. “There’s something special about watching elite athletes compete—whether it’s on the field or on the court, that level of intensity gets me hyped. That’s the kind of energy Dex and I are excited to bring to the broadcasts—bridging worlds, celebrating greatness and connecting fans through the universal language of competition.”
“These Clubhouse shows are the best when it’s just former stars getting a chance to open up, relax and talk baseball,” said Vasgersian. “Dex has always been an insightful guy to be around and getting a cross-sport perspective from somebody like Jamal, who was so impactful for such a long time in the NBA will be really fun.”
Fowler also discussed his broadcasts with Crawford so far with CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder this weekend:
“Jamal Crawford came to me and wanted me to be a co-host with him on the NBA crossover, so I’m like ‘let’s do it,'” Fowler told CBS Sports. “It turned out great. Fans can be a fly on the wall. We’re just sitting here talking games and talking shop.
“We’ve got celebrity guests coming on, we’ve got guys and girls from different sports coming on just to get their point of view and just have a conversation and let the fans delve into our minds.”
…”100% [like ManningCast in football],” Fowler said. “We’ll talk baseball, we’ll talk other sports in general because when we’re sitting in the locker room or the clubhouse, we sit there and talk about if we could do this or that. We talk about our love for baseball, our love for basketball and we also talk about situations during the games.”
While the ManningCast may be the most prominent altcast to this point, it’s worth noting that the format can go (and has gone) almost anywhere. Many other altcasts (some which preceded that Monday Night Football broadcast) have played with the idea in interesting ways. Coaches’ film rooms and stats–focused broadcasts have provided much more Xs and Os looks at games, while people from Kevin Hart to Dan Le Batard to Pat McAfee to LeBron James and friends have been involved in more humorous and culture-focused takes. That’s before considering the separate and growing world of animated altcasts and the athletes like Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, who have brought their own mix of jokes and intense analysis.
But there is perhaps something about having an athlete from another sport paired with an athlete from the sport in question. As decathlete-turned-broadcaster Trey Hardee told Awful Announcing recently about the The Athletes’ Lounge Diamond League altcasts he’s involved with, his background doesn’t mean he’s an expert on sports he didn’t compete in, but “I have at least enough information to be dangerous. …I don’t think I know everything, but I can at least have the conversation with the people who do know.”
A related sports background can lead to interesting questions that someone entirely in the sport or someone fully outside the elite athletes’ world might not ask. It’s easy to see that being the case for Crawford and Fowler, and they also have the benefit of both having notable broadcasting experience (Fowler with Marquee and MLB Network, Crawford with TNT Sports, NBA TV, and, soon, NBC). And there’s chemistry from them working together on this front in the NBA. We’ll see how it turns out for this MLB Network broadcast, but something is fascinating about seeing the same cross-sports pair try alternate broadcasts for both of their sports.