MSG Network commentators J.P. Dellacamera and Shep Messing at the opening of Red Bull Arena (Harrison), a match between the New York Red Bulls and Santos FC.
Considered the "Godfather of Erie, Pennsylvania Hockey Broadcasters", Dellacamera was the first hockey radio announcer in the Erie when hired by the Erie Blades ahead of the team's first season in 1975 as the public relations director and broadcaster. Previously, Dellacamera had been in the North American Hockey League (1973–1977) with the Long Island Cougars, and accepted the Blades job after the Cougars ceased operations.[2]
Dellacamera called Blades games on WLKK from 1975-1982.[3] Blades' public address announcer and back-up radio broadcaster John Leisering took over broadcast duties for Dellacamera when he left for the Pittsburgh Spirit.
In 2001, he was the lead play-by-play announcer for the WUSA national broadcasts on TNT and CNN/SI. Dellacamera was NBC's play-by-play voice for soccer at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he did both the men's and women's tournaments. He also did play-by-play for the New York Red Bulls on MSG Network for several years.
Dellacamera was the first host of ESPN's PressPass alongside analysts Tommy Smyth and Eddie Mighten. The show airs on ESPN's African, Pacific Rim, and Middle East channels, in addition to ESPN360. Dellacamera has been replaced by Derek Rae, and Mighten has been replaced by Janusz Michallik.
On January 16, 2010, Major League Soccer expansion team Philadelphia Union announced that Dellacamera will do play-by-play for local TV broadcasts during its inaugural season.[8] He called Union matches through the end of their local TV contract after the 2022 season.
In March 2011, Dellacamera left ESPN to join Fox Soccer as their lead MLS play-by-play commentator. However, in November 2011, the NBC Sports Network signed a deal with the league to broadcast all league matches starting in the 2012 season.[9] Fox re-gained rights in time for the 2015 season and Dellacamera reunited with Fox through the 2022 season. He also continued his duties with the Philadelphia Union and even called Union games on Fox broadcasts.
Starting in 2013, Dellacamera will do play-by-play for the New York Cosmos on ONE World Sports when games do not interfere with Union broadcasts.[10]
In 2022, Dellacamera returned to call his ninth World Cup in Qatar and his second with Fox Sports. Then, he returned to call the Copa America in the United States.[12] Calling matches with him both tournaments was former USMNT midfielder and Los Angeles Galaxy player/broadcaster Cobi Jones.[13][14]
National Hockey League
In addition to soccer and a few other sports, Dellacamera is a veteran NHL announcer. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the Chicago Wolves for two seasons, being the first play-by-play person on the team. From 2003-04 through 2008-09 he was the television play-by-play voice of the Atlanta Thrashers, and previously served as one of ESPN's many play-by-play commentators. Possibly due to his extensive work in soccer, Dellacamera is one of the few hockey play-by-play broadcasters to use "goal" in his goal calls (i.e. instead of saying "he takes the shot and scores," Dellacamera will say "takes the shot, goal"). Earlier in his career he did play-by-play for both the EHL Long Island Ducks and NAHL Long Island Cougars.
