John Fanta making NBC Sports MLB debut on Sunday Leadoff

Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

John Fanta has made quite a name for himself in his first year at NBC Sports, covering everything from college basketball to the NFL to the NBA to the Kentucky Derby.

On Sunday, he adds baseball to that list.

According to NBC Sports’ broadcast announcement for this Sunday, May 10, Fanta will make his MLB debut as a reporter on MLB Sunday Leadoff, joining play-by-play voice Matt Vasgersian, four-time World Series champion pitcher Jeff Nelson, and former infielder Kevin Frandsen for Nationals-Marlins at noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN.

Fanta joined NBC Sports last August after seven years at Fox Sports, taking on a new role as the network’s lead Big East play-by-play voice. Since then, he has taken on Football Night in America, NBA play-by-play, and Kentucky Derby infield reporting in addition to his college basketball duties. When he made his NBA debut in February, he told Awful Announcing that NBC executives Sam Flood, Rick Cordella, and Elyse Noonan promised him they would challenge him and keep raising the bar.

“This is why I joined NBC Sports,” Fanta said. “I want to be challenged.”

That challenge also came with a choice. Last week, Fanta told Zach Gelb that Barstool’s Dave Portnoy had offered him a job and that it was genuinely tempting. He turned it down because he wanted to grow his linear television profile rather than move into content and commentary.