The Green Room Vol. 2: Arlo White

“Oh Gerrard has slipped, what a moment, Demba Ba against Mignolet, Ba scores!”

“He slides it through, Jamie Vardy, is this the moment? History is made! Jamie Vardy has scored in eleven consecutive Premier League games.”

“A wild volley from van Dijk, its awkward, and it’s bounced off the crossbar, and into the net! Would you believe it? Divock Origi has scored the winning goal in the 96th minute!”

These are all tidbits of Premier League soccer lore as Americans hear it through their television. These words are the poems which make up memories of our favorite teams lifting trophies or agonizing in shameful defeat. But who is the man behind these calls? That man is Arlo White, a Leicester native who has been responsible for Premier League play-by-play commentary for the past seven years.

White made his name in broadcasting long before this in England both on radio and the BBC. However, in 2010 he wanted a move stateside, to none other than Seattle, Washington. A city known for its tech, coffee, and football. American football that is.

Nonetheless, White made the big move to become a commentator for the Seattle Sounders. After a boost in local tele ratings, White was given the job to broadcast all MLS and U.S. National Team games on NBC, which unknown to him, was his key for cracking into the Premier League.

When NBC acquired the rights to the Premier League, Arlo was moved up to call Premier League games. Only a couple short years later, he would be calling games for his boyhood club, Leicester City as they won the Premier League title with staggering 5,000-1 odds. White described it as, “Nothing short of sensational. When I moved to Seattle to be part of Major League Soccer, I never dreamed that I would get to announce a Leicester game, let alone call the games that led to them winning the Premier League title. I’m very grateful to have watched that magical run from the best seats in the house.”

As an avid Liverpool fan myself, sometimes it is hard to stay unbiased, especially when the team is preforming at top levels. I asked Arlo about this and how he managed to deal with that during this period, “When I’m announcing, I’m at work, so my objectivity is absolutely paramount. After 10 years at the BBC and now almost a decade at NBC Sports, there is never a question of bias when I’m calling games, but being a Leicester lad, it was very special indeed to witness and describe the club’s achievement.”

Moving backwards, what made a young English lad want to get into broadcasting anyways, especially when the route to be a professional footballer is right there? Despite the attraction to the game, Arlo always wanted a part of the calls, “I’ve wanted to be a Soccer Commentator for as long as I can remember Josh. In fact, when I was as young as six, I can remember making tapes of fictitious game commentaries with my Grandfather. I wanted to be an announcer more than an actual footballer, although I did play competitively until my early 20s. I’ve always felt that broadcasting is my calling, so I’m very fortunate that I have achieved my dream vocation.”

I think it is very safe to say that White has probably surpassed even his wildest dreams as an adolescent. From being in a somewhat lesser role in the MLS, he is now the core voice of a game more and more Americans are falling in love with year after year. I asked him if he sees himself in the mirror as one of the faces of soccer in America. His response, “One of the faces? Possibly. One of the voices? Definitely! I’ve been committed to broadcasting the game in the USA since 2009, so it’s over a decade now. I coached kids here through Major League Soccer camps in 1996. I do have a prominent role in broadcasting the game for NBC Sports, and I realize that with that role comes responsibility. I’ve noticed a lot of young Americans getting in touch to tell me that they enjoy the broadcasts and asking for advice about getting into soccer broadcasting. I try and help as much as I can, and I’d like to be in this role for as long as possible!”

Now, having just came back from a semester abroad this past fall in Winchester, England, I could not pass up the opportunity to ask Arlo what his favorite ground to call games was. Early in his tenure with NBC he was allowed to move back to England to call games on site and he has a handful of favorites, “All the grounds are special in their own way. They all have their own character and idiosyncrasies. Many of the venues are relatively new, so at Anfield we have far better facilities in the new stand, without losing out on the atmosphere at that great ground. Goodison Park is very old and rickety, and it’ll be knocked down in a few years, so we need to make the most of it. The gantry is lower than most, so we get a pretty intimate view of the action. It’s a fantastic place to call matches. The new Spurs stadium is simply breathtaking and combines fabulous facilities with a great view from the gantry. So, new or old, each ground has its own character.”

Lucky enough for me, I have been fortunate enough to visit each of them.

Furthermore, having seen the game grow so much, so rapidly here in the states, most soccer fans wonder how popular the game can get? Could the MLS add to Europe’s pungent mix of leagues? Can the Premier League establish more of a presence in the states? Arlo provided some direction, “It will continue to grow exponentially. Whilst we don’t know how the Covid-19 crisis will change people’s habits and behavior, soccer now has such a firm foothold in the American sports landscape, that it will only grow more popular from this point. The next breakthrough will come with an improvement in fortunes for the USMNT, starting with qualifying for, and performing well in, the next World Cup in Qatar.”

While it is impossible and quite frankly frightening to bank the popularity of soccer in America on the USMNT, we can bank on something. Arlo White providing the next generation of Christian Pulisics and Weston McKennies a voice to look forward to on the weekend. A verbal soccer fable that a generation will remember for a lifetime.