Rod Black (born September 28, 1962) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

sports announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

best known for his work with CTV Sports and TSN from 1990 to 2021. He is now a host and brand ambassador for NorthStar Bets, a brand of NorthStar Gaming.

Education

Black was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. Prior to coming onto the national scene, Black studied Creative Communications at

Red River College Red River College Polytechnic (RRC Polytech) is a college located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province's largest institute of applied learning and applied research, with over 200 degree, diploma, and certificate programs, and more ...

Career

Black got his start as a sports announcer at the age of 19 at the local CTV affiliate (now owned station) CKY-TV where he soon became host of the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

’ NHL broadcasts. He also hosted ''CKY Sports Sunday''. By 1990, Black moved to the network's Toronto-based CTV Sports division. There, he anchored events including CTV's coverage of the 1991 Canada Cup. He worked CTV's coverage of the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

and

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, as well as the CTV-led consortium's coverage of the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He also called events for CTV Sportsnet from its launch in 1999 until CTV's acquisition of TSN, and sale of Sportsnet to Rogers, in 2001. After being reassigned to TSN, Black's broadcasting duties included play-by-play announcing for the ''

CFL on TSN The ''CFL on TSN'' is The Sports Network, TSN's presentation of the Canadian Football League. The Sports Network (TSN) has broadcast CFL games since the 1987 season and has been the exclusive broadcaster of all CFL games (including the playoffs ...

'' and ''NBA on TSN'', TSN golf coverage and international hockey. He has also called Canadian-based golf tournaments for the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

tournaments,

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

, and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

. He was known as the voice of

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

in Canada, as he covered the sport as commentator for CTV and TSN coverage of figure skating. In April 2002, Black guest starred on the Canadian animated series ''

D'Myna Leagues ''D'Myna Leagues'' is a Canadian animated television series, which aired on CTV from 2000 to 2004."Kids rules in Canadian TV lineup". ''Timmins Daily Press'', March 13, 2001. Loosely based on the baseball writing of W. P. Kinsella, the series was ...

'' as Rod Blackbird, a documentary filmmaker. In addition to his sports roles, Black briefly served as a co-host of ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' is a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

'', and in that capacity broke the news of the terrorist attacks on the United States to CTV viewers on September 11, 2001. Black announced his departure from CTV/TSN on October 14, 2021, after spending over 30 years with the CTV /

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

family of networks. On March 24, 2022, it was announced that Black would join NorthStar Gaming as a host and brand ambassador for NorthStar Bets, providing hosting commentary for the company's social media and in-app content.

Toronto Blue Jays coverage

Black called Toronto Blue Jays games for CTV Sportsnet from 1999 to 2000 alongside

Joe Carter Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays ...

and on TSN from 2002 to 2009 with

Pat Tabler Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. After retiring from professional baseball, he became a color analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Canadian sports television networks TSN and S ...

. Black also co-hosted CTV's pregame coverage of the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

World Series with

Rob Faulds Rob Faulds (born September 29, 1955) is a Canadian sportscaster on Sportsnet. Faulds graduated from University of Western Ontario, Western University and started his broadcasting career at CFPL (AM) in London, Ontario, London, Ontario. He then w ...

Awards

In 2005, Black won the Sports Media Canada Award as Outstanding Sports Broadcaster and has earned five

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

nominations for Best Sports Broadcaster. In 2008, he was named to the roll of honour of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. In 2013, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his volunteer work with Plan Canada.

Personal life

Black's son Tyler was drafted in the first round of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. Black was in attendance for Tyler's MLB debut on April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. He was interviewed by the

Bally Sports Wisconsin FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Spor ...

sideline reporter during Tyler's second at-bat and proceeded to do the play-by-play when Tyler recorded his second hit. Black is a spokesperson for Plan Canada (formerly Foster Parents Plan).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Rod 1962 births Living people Bowling broadcasters Boxing commentators Canadian Football League announcers Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Curling broadcasters Figure skating commentators Golf commentators Major League Baseball broadcasters NBA broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters Winnipeg Jets announcers Sportspeople from Winnipeg Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Raptors announcers Olympic Games broadcasters Gymnastics broadcasters CTV Television Network people