Whit Watson (born 1971 in

Winter Park, FL Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was f ...

) is an American sportscaster. He currently works for

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

, hired in August 2010. At Golf Channel, Watson is primarily assigned to

Golf Central ''Golf Central'' is Golf Channel's news program. It was launched in 1995, in the same year as the network it airs on. A nightly half-hour show, ''Golf Central'' features news and highlights from the major golf tours and events of the world, in add ...

as a studio anchor, but also reports from the field at

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

events,

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

events, and

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

events. He has also appeared on Golf Channel's ''

Morning Drive Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cla ...

'' program, and has acted as a play-by-play announcer for Golf Channel's

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

coverage.

Career

Prior to that position, Watson was a primary host for

Sun Sports Bally Sports Sun is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local cover ...

and

Fox Sports Florida Bally Sports Florida is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the state of Florida, with a focus on professional sport ...

, the Florida-based regional cable networks owned and operated by

Fox Television The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

. He joined the network in August 2003 after nearly seven years at

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%). Th ...

in Bristol, Connecticut. At ESPN, Watson hosted a variety of programs, including '' SportsCenter'', ''RPM 2Night'', ''

NBA 2Night ''NBA Tonight'' is a National Basketball Association studio program that airs on ESPN. The program used to air as part of ESPN's ''The Trifecta''. Formerly known as ''NBA 2Night'' and NBA Fastbreak, the program, hosted by various ESPN personalities ...

'', and shifts on

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 ...

, in addition to filling in on ESPN Radio. Prior to working for ESPN, Watson was a television producer and radio reporter for the Orlando Magic from 1993 through 1997. At Sun Sports and Fox Sports Florida, Watson served a variety of roles, including hosting pregame shows and ancillary programming for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

, Orlando Magic, and

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

. He also served as the primary studio host for several original productions, including the pregame and postgame shows for

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and Florida State University football games. Watson was the first host of

In My Own Words ''In My Own Words'' is the debut studio album of American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on February 28, 2006. Conceived following his songwriting breakthrough with " Let Me Love You" for fellow R&B singer Mario ...

, a show that was created in Orlando and subsequently adopted by other

-owned regional sports networks around the country. Watson also served as the primary play-by-play announcer for the

FHSAA The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

high school football and basketball state championship games, and called

and Florida State University basketball and football games. While still a FOX employee, Watson freelanced as a studio host for

ESPN Regional Television ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events f ...

in Charlotte, NC, introducing college basketball games on the syndicated

SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...

package. Watson is a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

native who graduated from

Trinity Preparatory School Trinity Preparatory School of Florida is an independent college preparatory day-school for students in grades 6 to 12, located in Winter Park, a suburb of Orlando. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church and is accredited by the Florida Coun ...

in 1989 and later went on to graduate from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1993, where he spent four years as a radio announcer for

WVBR WVBR-FM (93.5 FM) is a commercial, student-owned and volunteer-run college radio station that broadcasts to Ithaca, New York and surrounding areas. It operates at 3 kilowatts from a transmitter on Hungerford Hill, in Ithaca. Prior to 2016, WVBR ...

. At

, he was both a National Merit Scholar and Cornell National Scholar, the latter being the highest honor bestowed upon incoming freshmen. He majored in English at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

, with a concentration in Communications, and graduated "with distinction" from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Whit Watson was honored as the Distinguished Alumni Award winner at

. He is a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees. He was an All-Conference second baseman and catcher on Trinity Prep's baseball team, while also lettering in Cross-Country and serving as President of the school's Student Council. He currently resides in his hometown of

with his wife and two children.

References

External links

Sun Sports and FOX Sports Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Whit Golf writers and broadcasters College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters Major League Baseball broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters High school football announcers in the United States High school basketball announcers in the United States 1971 births Living people American radio personalities People from Orlando, Florida Cornell University alumni Television personalities from Florida