For an Englishman, Arlo White sure gets around. America, that is.
White has been an Americanophile for over 30 years, beginning with a boyhood trip to Chicago to visit his great aunt. He kept coming back, and then in 2010 began broadening his travel as Sounders broadcaster and, beginning in 2012, as lead commentator for NBCSN coverage of MLS.
His work for the network’s Premier League coverage has since taken him back home to Leicester but a piece of his heart always seems to drum to the beat of a Yankee. He spends his summer holidays exploring the country with his wife and twin daughters. This year was no exception, and he’s already plotting a 2019 return to where this TV business all started.
Dedicated to his craft, White is always prepared for the worst and exuberant for the best. Now beginning his sixth season of EPL play-by-play, he says he’s altered his style, but only slightly, and believe he and NBC have found their groove.
Almost 10 years into working on TV, do you find that you’ve changed your approach in any way?
In terms of preparation, it’s exactly the same, with a few tweaks. At the start there was possibly more statistics. Now that I’ve grown into the League and the role, it’s probably more about storylines. If I can add a nice quote that gets a conversation started or makes a point, it lets the players or the manager dictate the storyline rather than me shoehorning something into a game.
