“It’s in the net!”
Those words have echoed through soccer fans across the DMV for the last 27 years thanks to Dave Johnson. Johnson is also the radio voice of the Washington Wizards and you can continue to hear him albeit there’s hoops and not a net to shoot into. Sometimes the schedules for both teams overlapped but Johnson refused to miss a game for either club.
Now his schedule gets a little easier but the circumstances are certainly hard. During D.C. United’s loss to FC Cincinnati it turned out to be Johnson’s last game calling the Black and Red as the MLS struck a TV deal with Apple TV beginning next season, ending the tenure of local broadcasters across the league.
The deal on Apple TV is 10 years in length and reportedly worth $2.5 billion. The format would be similar to the NFL with national broadcasters reporting and broadcasting the games on location. This doesn’t just affect Johnson, it affects all local broadcasters. But Johnson is different considering he’s been calling one team since the MLS’ existence.
United released a statement saying they have “every intention to have him with the club in a role that provides him a platform to continue to connect with our fanbase, and we look forward to curating this partnership (with) him.”
Johnson doesn’t know what the future holds but he does know he’s got a strong work ethic and a will to fight going for him. He’s been battling multiple scerlosis, a disease he was diagnosed with in 2019. Last month there were shirts featuring the “it’s in the net!” catchphrase that went on sale with the proceeds going to the National MS Society.
Johnson has called most of D.C. Unied’s 800 plus regular season games which included over 1,200 goals and the amount of times he’s said, “It’s in the net!”. We wish Dave Johnson the best in his future endeavors and look forward to hearing him continue to call Wizards games. Congrats on a remarkable MLS broadcasting career!
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