Jake Zivin on Messi, Timbers and Sunday Night Soccer
The former Timbers broadcaster still isn't afraid to stand out in the rain.
BEAVERTON — Yes, you’ve likely seen Jake Zivin enjoying the sunshine.
The former Timbers broadcaster who now serves as the lead commentator for Apple TV’s MLS coverage has done a lot of games from Miami over the last couple of years. He spent this year’s season-opener broadcasting live from San Diego, and is jumping on a flight back there on Saturday for a match that evening.
It’s supposed to be 62 with minimal cloud coverage.
But on Friday, Zivin stood in the rain.
The Portlander spent his morning at the Timbers training Facility out in Beaverton, catching up with a club that’s found a bit of good form as of late heading into Sunday’s match against Houston Dynamo.
Saturday night, Zivin calls San Diego FC vs. LAFC. But on Sunday, Zivin returns home to call the Timbers’ debut on Sunday Night Soccer, Apple’s new game-of-the-week showcase with enhanced production and studio programming.
“I’m slightly reluctant to use the word ‘home game’ because I don’t want to come across as biased,” Zivin said. “‘Smaller commute game’ is a better way of putting it — just having to pop 15 minutes in the car to get to Providence Park. Look, Providence Park is a special place for me. Doing almost 10 years of TV there in the same broadcast booth, it’s special for me any time I get to call a game there.”
The I-5 Corridor caught up with Zivin to talk about Sunday Night Soccer, this year’s Timbers team, how the MLS has changed since Lionel Messi joined the league and what a broadcaster’s responsibility is after a bad decision by the referees.
(Lightly edited for length and clarity.)
I-5 Corridor: The last time we touched base with you from a Corridor perspective was right after you called the first Messi game. I think it’s fair to call that span of the summer a phenomenon, just with how much interest and attention he drew. You could see it stadium by stadium. Where do you think the league has gone in the year and a half since that initial, “holy cow, Messi is here?”
Jake Zivin: I mean, that was wild, like you said. It felt like a Taylor Swift concert tour everywhere we went. And it still feels that way with Messi on the road—maybe not quite the same, especially if you’re going to a city he’s been to a few times—but that was lightning in a bottle. The prime example of that cliché. Like, Oh my gosh, this was wild for a couple months there in the summer.
The league has continued to grow since. I think the league has always been about consistent growth and consistent expansion—not just with the number of teams, but the type of players they bring in and the amount of money that’s spent. The level of the league has continued to get better.
Every year I think better players are coming in. You look at the top teams and try to compare them to even five years ago, ten years ago—I just think the quality has continued to grow.
I think Messi being here has attracted other players that maybe wouldn’t have considered coming to the league. Specifically with Inter Miami, you’re seeing young South American players—guys who might’ve gone straight to Europe—say, “I want to go play at Inter Miami.”
And then from an off-field, global perspective, there’s no doubt more people are paying attention to this league. More people are watching. That goes hand-in-hand with Apple TV—the fact that you can watch it in 120-ish countries, easily, on Apple.
And to tie it into this week: That’s what I’m excited for with Sunday Night Soccer and Providence Park. I do think there are a lot of new eyeballs, new people to the league, who maybe don’t know about Providence Park and the Portland Timbers.
I-5: How different is the preparation when you're doing a Messi game, which is going to have a worldwide audience, versus a national game that’s more local?