If you were watching the NBA Finals on ABC instead of the United States vs. Haiti in the Gold Cup, even Fox wouldn’t blame you for the decision.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their second championship in franchise history, and their first since moving from Seattle, by winning Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers Sunday night. At the same time, Fox was airing a match between the United States men’s national soccer team and Haiti in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup from Arlington, Texas.
Sports fans had a decision to make. And for at least part of the night, it appears that Fox soccer announcers John Strong and Stu Holden chose the NBA Finals.
Early in the second half of the United States vs Haiti Gold Cup match, there was about 30 seconds of silence from the announcers. But the broadcast wasn’t silent, with the audience at home able to hear Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson calling the first quarter between Indiana and Oklahoma City.
Whether it was Strong, Holden, or another person in the booth, someone from the Fox broadcast definitely seemed to be paying attention to the NBA Finals, which inadvertently led to parts of Game 7 airing on Fox. For what it’s worth, there was never any evidence of Breen, Burke and Jefferson watching the Gold Cup during their broadcast on ABC.
The audio wasn’t clear enough to stop basketball fans from flipping over to ABC if they wanted to watch the NBA Finals. But the audio was clear enough to know it was audio from the NBA Finals bleeding into the Gold Cup broadcast on Fox. And Fox most definitely wasn’t paying the NBA or ABC for those media rights.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com