Kenneth Gary Albert (born February 2, 1968) is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster

Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American retired sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he wa ...

and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada ( NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL).

Early life

Albert's parents gave him a

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

for his fifth birthday to practice his broadcasting. On his sixth birthday in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, his father took him along to a

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

game. One of the statisticians had to leave in the middle of the game, so Albert got to do the stats for the rest of the game. At 14, he became the official statistician for the Rangers on the radio. At 16, he wrote content for the Rangers program. Aside from his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

, his idol was

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce ...

play-by-play broadcaster Jim Robson. From 1981 to 1986, Albert, growing up in Sands Point, covered high school sports for the ''Port Washington News'' at Paul D. Schreiber High School, an

Anton Community Newspapers Anton Media Group, formerly Anton Community Newspapers, and also known by its legal name Long Island Community Newspapers, Inc. is a print media company based in Mineola, New York, on Long Island in Nassau County and produces 17 weekly newspapers ...

publication. Albert graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1990 with a degree in broadcasting and journalism. He was a member of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity. Albert worked in the sports department at

WNYU WNYU-FM (89.1 FM) is a college radio station owned and operated by New York University. Its offices and studios are located at NYU's campus in lower Manhattan. WNYU's main transmitter is located at University Heights in the Bronx, the former lo ...

radio. While working there he was able to pick up his quick responses while announcing local games.

Broadcasting career

Albert is the radio voice of the

, as well as a

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer and field-level reporter for Fox's coverage of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

, the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

, and previously, the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

. Previously, he handled TV play-by-play for the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

and

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

(now the Washington Wizards), and was a part-time announcer on

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

telecasts in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

. Additionally, he does TV play-by-play for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

(formerly the Washington Redskins) preseason games with

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Can ...

. Albert called the international broadcast of

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

with Theismann. When Fox had the network contract for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

in the 1990s, Albert also worked on '' Fox NHL Saturday'' telecasts. Albert previously did play-by-play for the ''

NHL on NBC The ''NHL on NBC'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by NBC Sports, and televised on NBC properties, including MSNBC, CNBC, Golf Channel, USA Network and NBCSN in the United States. While NBC covered ...

'' and formerly with Versus (now called NBCSN). Albert called Game 1 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals for NBC, filling in for

Mike Emrick Michael "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946) is an American former network television play-by-play sportscaster and commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. He was the lead announcer for National Hockey League national telecasts on bot ...

, who was dealing with a death in the family. He has done work for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

coverage Coverage may refer to: Filmmaking * Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce * Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene * Script coverage, a short summary of a script, writ ...

, as a play-by-play announcer for men's and women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

at every

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

since

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. Albert has also done

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

ESPN Plus ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Com ...

and is a substitute play-by-play announcer for televised

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

games on

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable prov ...

. For the 2011 playoffs, Albert broadcast for two playoff teams in the same market, doing the play-by-play for the

on WEPN 1050 ESPN radio and filling in on

doing play-by-play for the

. Albert was the play-by-play announcer for the 2015 American League Division Series between the Texas Rangers and the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. In the top of the 7th inning of Game 5, he helped explain the rule regarding the errant throw by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin, which resulted in Texas scoring the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the inning, he called

Jose Bautista Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galil ...

's go-ahead home run. In 2016, Albert was nominated for the

Sports Emmy Award The Sports Emmy Awards, or Sports Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the Sports E ...

for Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play in a list that included fellow Fox and NBC colleagues Kevin Burkhardt, eventual winner

, and even his own father. After Emrick's retirement, Albert became NBC's lead play-by-play announcer beginning in the

2020–21 NHL season The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, paired with Emrick's long-time partner Eddie Olczyk. Albert previously filled in for Emrick in game one of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals due to a death in the latter’s family. With NBC losing its NHL rights after the 2021–22 season, the pair moved to Turner Sports to serve in the same capacity. Albert is a frequent guest on

WNYU-FM WNYU-FM (89.1 FM) is a college radio station owned and operated by New York University. Its offices and studios are located at NYU's campus in lower Manhattan. WNYU's main transmitter is located at University Heights in the Bronx, the former lo ...

's sports talk program, ''The Cheap Seats''. He has also made many appearances on the popular New York sports internet radio show ''Sports Heaven with Mark and Evan''.

Four sports in four days

On October 25, 2009, Albert called the play-by-play of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

–

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

NFL game for Fox and then hosted the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

' locker room celebration after clinching the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the America ...

that night. The following night he broadcast a Rangers game on radio and on October 28, he called the play-by-play of the

season opener on

Personal life

Albert currently resides in New Jersey with his wife of 20 years, Barbara (Wolf), and their two daughters, Amanda and Sydney. Albert was introduced to his wife by close friend and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

sports reporter, Jerry Coleman. Albert has frequently cited his love of all sports, but mainly hockey and basketball. He has cited baseball as the hardest sport to commentate for.

Career timeline

*1990–1992:

Baltimore Skipjacks The Baltimore Skipjacks were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The Skipjacks originated in 1979, and played as the Baltimore Clippers in the Eastern Hockey League (1978–1981), Eastern Hockey L ...

– play-by-play *1992–1995:

– play-by-play on

NBC Sports Washington NBC Sports Washington is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts reg ...

*1993–1994: '' NHL on ESPN2'' – play-by-play *1994–1995, 2016–present:

NHL Radio NHL Radio is the official national radio broadcaster of the National Hockey League, covering the Stanley Cup Finals, both Conference Finals, selected early round playoff action, the All-Star Game, the NHL Winter Classic and a selected number of r ...

– lead play-by-play *1994–present: ''

NFL on Fox The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by '' Fox NFL Kick ...

'' – play-by-play *1995–1999: ''

NHL on Fox The ''NHL on Fox'' is the branding used for broadcasts of National Hockey League (NHL) games that were produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox network from the 1994–1995 NHL season until the 1998–1999 NHL season. NHL games continued ...

'' – play-by-play *1995–present:

– radio play-by-play *1999–2000: ''NTRA on Fox'' – host *2001–2019, 2022–present: ''

Major League Baseball on Fox ''MLB on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox MLB'') is an American presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports, the sports division of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), since June 1, 1996. The broadcaster has aired the Worl ...

'' – play-by-play *2002:

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

– hockey play-by-play *2005:

– fill-in television play-by-play *2005–2006: ''

NHL on Versus ''The NHL on Versus'' was a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games broadcast on Versus (TV channel), Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005–06 NHL season, 2005–06 season from previ ...

'' – play-by-play *2006:

– hockey play-by-play *2007–2009:

– play-by-play *2009–present:

– fill-in television play-by-play *2010:

– hockey play-by-play *2010–present:

Broadcast Network – preseason play-by-play *2011: ''

'' – playoffs play-by-play *2012–2021: ''

–'' secondary play-by-play and then lead play-by-play *2014:

– hockey play-by-play *2016:

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

– track and field play-by-play *2018:

– hockey play-by-play *2021:

- baseball and volleyball play-by-play *2021–present: ''

NHL on TNT The ''NHL on TNT'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports), and televised on TNT in the United States. In 2021, Turner Sports reached a seven- ...

'' - Lead play-by-play *2022:

- hockey play-by-play

Broadcasting partners

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

* Rod Allen *

Brian Baldinger Brian David Baldinger (born January 7, 1959) is a former professional American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles. He covered Philadelphia Eagles pr ...

Ronde Barber Jamael Orondé "Rondé" Barber (born April 7, 1975) is an American former football cornerback who spent his entire 16-year professional career playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He is the identical twin ...

Brian Boucher Brian Boucher ( ; born January 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a game and studio analyst on national ESPN and ABC games and also Philadelphia Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He played 13 season ...

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...

* Sean Casey * Rick Cerone *

Brian Engblom Brian Paul Engblom (born January 27, 1955) is a Canadian ice hockey broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a former professional hockey defenseman. Biography Engblom was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and played for the University of Wiscons ...

Cliff Floyd Cornelius Clifford Floyd Jr. (born December 5, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for 17 seasons, most notably for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins and New York Mets. He is currently a baseball analyst who co-ho ...

* Walt Frazier *

Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, and St. ...

Mark Grace Mark Eugene Grace (born June 28, 1964) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who spent 12 seasons with the Chicago Cubs and three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League (NL). He was a member of the 2001 Wor ...

* Tim Green * Tim Hutchings * Daryl Johnston * Keith Jones * Eric Karros *

Howie Long Howard Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960) is an American sports analyst and former professional football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons as a defensive end, spending his entire career with the Raider ...

* Steve Lyons * Dave Maloney *

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardina ...

Pierre McGuire Regis Pierre McGuire (born August 8, 1961) is an American-Canadian ice hockey executive who last served as senior vice-president of player development for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as a televis ...

Joe Micheletti Joseph Robert Micheletti (born October 24, 1954) is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, ...

* Mike Milbury *

A. J. Mleczko Allison Jaime "A. J." Mleczko Griswold (born June 14, 1975) is an American ice hockey player and analyst. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Playing career Mleczko attended New Canaan ...

* Anthony Muñoz * Chris Myers *

CJ Nitkowski Christopher John "C. J." Nitkowski (born March 9, 1973) is a left-handed former professional baseball pitcher and current baseball broadcaster. A first-round draft choice of the Cincinnati Reds in 1994, he played in the major leagues for the Reds ...

* Eddie Olczyk *

Darren Pang Darren Robert Pang (born February 17, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (1984–85 and 1987–89). He is currently the lead ...

* A. J. Pierzynski * Lou Pinella *

Ron Pitts Ronald Dwayne Pitts (born October 14, 1962) is a former professional American football player and current sportscaster. He played cornerback in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers, and played college football a ...

* Harold Reynolds *

Ken Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal (born September 19, 1962) is an American sportswriter and reporter. He serves as a field reporter for '' Fox Major League Baseball'' since 2005, and was an in-studio reporter for MLB Network from 2009 to 2022. Since August 2017, ...

Bryce Salvador Bryce Chadwick Salvador (born February 11, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Salvador was drafted in the sixth round, 138th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. During his professional caree ...

* Tony Siragusa * Kendall Coyne Schofield *

Jeff Torborg Jeffrey Allen Torborg (born November 26, 1941) is an American former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball. Torborg was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1963. On September 9, 1965, Torborg caught Sandy Koufax' ...

* Tom Verducci * Jonathan Vilma

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Kenny 1968 births Living people American Hockey League broadcasters American horse racing announcers American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers High school basketball announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers National Hockey League broadcasters New York Knicks announcers New York Rangers announcers New York University alumni Olympic Games broadcasters Washington Bullets announcers Washington Capitals announcers Washington Nationals announcers Women's National Basketball Association announcers Paul D. Schreiber High School alumni Jewish American sportspeople 21st-century American Jews