Adnan Virk ( ur, ) (born July 29, 1978) is a Canadian sportscaster for MLB Network and DAZN who previously worked for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

, and WWE. He also produces and hosts the weekly podcast ''Cinephile with Adnan Virk'' show covering cinema news and interviews with entertainment celebrities, as well as co-hosts the football podcast ''The GM Shuffle'' with former NFL executive Michael Lombardi.

Early life

Virk was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

to Zakaria and Taherah Virk; his parents had immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. In 1984 the family relocated to

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, then in 1989 to

Morven Morven, or Mhoirbheinn, is a given name and may also refer to: Places Australia * Morven, Queensland, a town and locality in the Shire of Murweh * Morven, New South Wales * Electoral district of Morven, Tasmania Canada * Morven, community in Loyal ...

, a small town just outside Kingston, where his parents owned and operated a gas station and Zack's Variety store. After graduating from Ernestown Secondary School, where he played basketball and soccer, Virk studied Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.

Career

From 2003 to 2009, Virk hosted several programs on The Score, and was an associate

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

for '' Sportscentre'' at

. He was also the co-host of ''Omniculture'' and ''Bollywood Boulevard'' at

Omni Television Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multicultur ...

. In 2009, he joined Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) as a host and reporter for Raptors TV, Leafs TV and Gol TV Canada.

ESPN

In April 2010, Virk joined the

family of stations in

Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, the ...

. After joining ESPN, he became one of three main anchors for '' Baseball Tonight''. During 2014

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

, he began calling play-by-play for an ESPN affiliate. In the baseball off-season, he hosted '' SportsCenter'' and '' Outside the Lines''. He would also fill in for Keith Olbermann on '' Olbermann''. He was the host of a movie podcast ''Cinephile'' on ESPN. In addition, he was also the main studio host for '' ESPN College Football'' and also hosted '' College Football Final''. On February 3, 2019, Virk was fired following an investigation regarding leaks of ESPN information to the media. Virk and ESPN later agreed not to pursue litigation against each other.

DAZN and MLB Network

In March 2019, it was announced that Virk would host the new MLB studio program ''ChangeUp'' for DAZN, a subscription

streaming media Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

service based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In addition, Virk will appear on MLB Network. He is also hosting boxing events. ''ChangeUp'' was canceled just prior to the 2020 MLB season.

WWE

On April 12, 2021, it was announced that Virk would become the new play-by-play commentator for '' Monday Night Raw'', replacing Tom Phillips. However, after a negative reception from the fans, six weeks later on May 25, he and the company mutually parted ways because Adnan claimed the schedule was too much for him and his family. He was replaced by Jimmy Smith.

Personal life

Virk was born to a

Pakistani Canadian , image = , pop = ''303,260'' (0.81%) , popplace = , region1 = , pop1 = 212,650 , region2 = , pop2 = 39,535 , region3 = , pop3 = 16,645 ...

Ahmadi Muslim Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

family, and considers himself a practising Muslim. He lives in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

with his wife Eamon, whom he married in 2007. They have four sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virk, Adnan 1978 births Living people Canadian Ahmadis Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States Canadian male journalists Canadian people of Pakistani descent Canadian men podcasters Canadian podcasters Canadian television sportscasters ESPN people Major League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters Journalists from Toronto Professional wrestling announcers Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Toronto Raptors announcers