Eric Collins thinks Prime Video is trying to bring back something national sports broadcasting lost decades ago.
The Charlotte Hornets announcer joined Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing Podcast to discuss his NFL debut on Fox and his upcoming work with Prime Video’s NBA coverage. Collins is one of four play-by-play voices Amazon hired for its inaugural NBA package alongside Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, and Michael Grady, and he believes the streaming service wants to do something different with how it presents sports.
Collins thinks Amazon wants to bring back individuality in national broadcasting. That’s not something he takes lightly. National sports television has spent the last couple decades sanding down the edges on announcers, creating a homogenized product where every broadcast sounds roughly the same. Collins sees Prime Video going the other direction.
“I do. I do,” Collins said when asked if Amazon is interested in bringing individuality back to national broadcasts. “I think with the people they chose to hire, with the way they want to do it. Why continue doing things the same way? It’s 2025, man. TV doesn’t need to be cookie cutter. To me, there’s no rule. The only rule is you turn on that camera, you’re ready to go. You turn off that camera, you got to be done. You know, there’s an in and there’s an out. But every single thing you do in between, that’s a blank canvas.”
Collins has operated on a blank canvas for 11 years with the Hornets, a regional gig that allowed him to develop a style that would never survive at a major network. His calls go viral regularly because they don’t sound like anyone else. He’s built a following by treating every game like it matters, delivering catchphrases that range from absurd to brilliant, and bringing energy that makes bad teams watchable. That individuality made him a fan favorite locally and eventually caught Amazon’s attention.
“And I think with the folks at Amazon, I think the Prime Video people, it’s a blank canvas,” Collins said. “‘Let’s see what we can do. Let’s make this fun. We don’t have to do things like they’ve always been done. We can be creative. We can have different graphics. We can have different voices.’ I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s gonna be fantastic.”
Amazon is making a significant investment in distinctive voices. Kevin Harlan is one of the most recognizable play-by-play announcers in sports. Ian Eagle has built a reputation as the thinking person’s announcer with sharp observations and cultural references that go beyond generic sports clichés. Michael Grady brings energy from his work with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Collins fits that mold — announcers who sound like themselves rather than approximations of what a national announcer is supposed to sound like.
That wasn’t always how national sports television operated. Collins remembers a time when individuality was encouraged rather than stamped out. He pointed to Monday Night Football, where viewers knew immediately they were watching a Keith Jackson broadcast or a Howard Cosell broadcast. Local broadcasts had distinct flavors. Hawk Harrelson made White Sox games sound different from Harry Caray’s Cubs broadcasts. The announcers were part of the experience rather than interchangeable parts.
Collins attributes the shift to the mass production of sports content. With high school games, women’s sports, Olympic sports, and expanded coverage across every level, networks started looking for a type rather than a personality. The result was a generation of announcers who sound interchangeable because they were hired to fit a mold.
But Collins believes that announcers like himself were built for individuality, not conformity. His job isn’t to fade into the background or sound like every other announcer. It’s to make the game interesting and compelling and distinctive. That approach has defined his career with the Hornets, where he’s had the freedom to develop catchphrases like “flying like a toupee in a tornado” and deliver calls with energy that makes 14-39 teams feel like championship contenders.
“But I think at its core, I think that television and television sports is aimed for individuality,” Collins said. “And it’s not overshadowing the game at all. Like my job is to make the game interesting and compelling and distinctive, that’s that’s just what I’ve always believed in. And yeah, some people don’t necessarily think that that’s their cup of tea, but I’m doing every single thing I can to make the game as good as it possibly can be. That’s my goal on a daily basis.”
Collins made his NFL debut for Fox earlier this month when he called Dolphins-Panthers in Charlotte. The game was one of the least anticipated matchups on the Week 5 slate, but Collins treated it like the Super Bowl.
Amazon’s bet is that distinctive voices like Collins can make its NBA coverage feel different from what’s already out there. The company isn’t trying to recreate TNT or ESPN. It’s building something new with announcers who sound like themselves rather than generic versions of what a national broadcaster is supposed to be. Collins thinks that’s the right approach.
Whether Amazon can actually pull that off remains to be seen. Collins has been waiting 23 years for his NFL shot and 11 years for a national platform that lets him be himself. Prime Video is betting that individuality sells. If Collins is right about what the company wants to do, he’s finally found the right place.