Maximiliano Bretos is an American

sports reporter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

and

sports announcer 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 ...

, who is currently the

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 for MLS broadcasts on

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

. He formerly hosted

ESPN Major League Soccer ''MLS on ESPN'' is the branding used for television presentations of Major League Soccer on ESPN properties, including ABC and ESPN2. Major League Soccer on ESPN debuted in 1996, the league's first season, and ended in 2022 when MLS moved all of ...

and

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

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 ...

as well as being the lead announcer for

Fox Soccer Fox Soccer (formerly Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports World before that) was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by Fox Corporation, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian ...

from 2003-2010 and

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

from 2018-2022. Bretos' broadcast specialization is

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Early years

Bretos attended the Judith Weston Acting Studio in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and formerly played for Santa Monica Rugby Club. Bretos earned a degree in international relations from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

in 1994. He also dabbled in modeling.

Broadcasting career

Bretos worked for Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports World (1953-2009) where he was the voice of the first English language, 24-hour international sports channel. While at Fox he also worked for Sky Sports in the United Kingdom (2003-2006) as well as the WWE Company in 2007. His broadcasting catchphrase was "Schelotto, yeah!" In January 2010, he resigned from FSC to take a position with

ESPNews ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...

Controversy

On February 18, 2012, Bretos used the term "

chink ''Chink'' is an English-language ethnic slur usually referring to a person of Chinese descent. The word is also sometimes indiscriminately used against people of East Asian, North Asian and Southeast Asian appearance. The use of the term des ...

in the armor" in reference to

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 ...

point guard

Jeremy Lin Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American professional basketball player who last played for the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the Ne ...

, an Asian, while on air as an ESPNews anchor. He was suspended for 30 days. "My wife is Asian, so I’m basically a dork," apologized Bretos on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Spero Dedes Spero is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Anthony Spero (1929-2008), American criminal *David Spero (born 1951), American DJ and music manager *Deborah Spero, American law enforcement official *Donald Spero (born 1939), American ...

was another announcer who used that reference. Bretos, whose parents are both Cuban exiles, has been at the forefront of advancing the Latino presence at ESPN. In Summer 2013, he interviewed Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig in both English and Spanish. In September 2013, he also co-hosted ESPN's Hispanic heritage special "One Nacion".

Los Angeles FC

In February 2018, Bretos was announced as the new lead play-by-play broadcaster on

YouTube TV YouTube TV is an American streaming television service operated by YouTube, a wholly owned subsidiary of Google. Announced on February 28, 2017, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor offers a selection of live linear channel f ...

for

Los Angeles Football Club Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He continued his anchoring duties on ''

'' at ESPN's Los Angeles studios until late 2018.

Podcast

From February 2017 until early 2019, Max co-hosted the

Max and Herc Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ( ...

podcast with

Herculez Gomez Herculez Gomez (born April 6, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He currently works as a commentator in both English and Spanish for ESPN. Early life Gomez, the oldest of five children, was born in ...

. The podcast was a professionally produced cast on the topic of soccer, and was part of the ESPN family of podcasts. Bretos announced through a tweet that the podcast had come to an end in early 2019, to focus on his responsibilities with LAFC. Starting in early 2021, Max announced his new podcast project, "The Soccer OG", interviewing other figures in the soccer landscape and offering his perspective on developments in the USMNT, MLS and other parts of global football. As of December 2022, the podcast has over 130 episodes.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American television sports announcers Association football commentators American people of Cuban descent Major League Soccer broadcasters Florida State University alumni {{US-footy-bio-stub