Dodgers Broadcaster Signs Contract With ESPN

The Dodger broadcaster has signed a multi-year contract to return to ESPN.

Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Jessica Mendoza will retain her duties with ESPN for the foreseeable future.

Last week, Mendoza and ESPN announced a multi-year deal. The 43-year-old softball and baseball commentator and analyst will enter her 17th year with the company. The Dodgers previously announced that Mendoza would return to the SportsNet LA booth as a color analyst on select games in 2024.

Mendoza commented on the contract to Awful Announcing, expressing her pleasure about being back at ESPN. 

“It’s just so crazy,” Mendoza told Awful Announcing. “It started with doing college softball while I was playing — gosh, 18 years ago. Crazy to think about. So when I think about this journey, when you’re getting asked, ‘How did you get into this business, What was your path?’ For me, it was being still an Olympic softball player, getting asked to do college softball coverage at ESPN. I remember walking into audition and just being blown away by the campus — and of course, intimidated and super nervous."

—Jessica Mendoza, via Awful Announcing

Mendoza joined SportsNet LA in March 2022. When needed, she provides commentary for the team along with like Eric Karros, Adrián González, José Mota, and Dontrelle Willis. Orel Hershiser remains the Dodgers' primary color analyst alongside play-by-play man Joe Davis. 

Mendoza is also a former softball player. She attended Stanford University and played for the Cardinal. Mendoza also represented the United States in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. She won gold in 2004 and returned with silver in 2008. 

Mendoza has been around the game of softball and baseball her whole life, and we congratulate her on the well-deserved contract extension.