Adnan Virk facts for kids

Adnan Virk is a Canadian sportscaster. He is well-known for his work on MLB Network. He has also worked for many other sports channels like DAZN, ESPN, TSN, The Score, and WWE. Adnan also hosted podcasts about movies and football.

Early Life and Education

Adnan Virk was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His parents moved to Canada from Punjab, Pakistan. When he was young, his family moved to Kingston and then to Morven. Morven is a small town near Kingston. In Morven, his parents owned a gas station and a store.

Adnan went to Ernestown Secondary School. He enjoyed playing basketball and soccer there. After high school, he studied Radio and Television Arts. He attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute to learn about broadcasting.

Adnan Virk's Career in Sports

Adnan Virk has had a long career in sports broadcasting. He has worked for several major sports networks.

Early Broadcasting Roles

From 2003 to 2009, Adnan hosted many shows on The Score. He also worked as a producer for Sportscentre at TSN. He co-hosted shows like Omniculture and Bollywood Boulevard on Omni Television. In 2009, he joined Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE). There, he was a host and reporter for Raptors TV, Leafs TV, and Gol TV Canada.

Working at ESPN

In April 2010, Adnan Virk joined the ESPN family of stations. He became one of the main anchors for Baseball Tonight. This show covers baseball news and games. In 2014, he started calling play-by-play for baseball games. This means he described the action as it happened.

When it was not baseball season, he hosted SportsCenter and Outside the Lines. He also filled in as a host for the show Olbermann. Adnan hosted a movie podcast called Cinephile on ESPN. He was also the main studio host for ESPN College Football. He hosted College Football Final as well.

Adnan Virk left ESPN in February 2019. He and ESPN later agreed not to take legal action against each other.

Moving to DAZN, MLB Network, and NHL Network

In March 2019, Adnan Virk began hosting ChangeUp for DAZN. DAZN is a streaming service based in London. ChangeUp was a new show about MLB. Adnan also appeared on MLB Network. He hosted boxing events too.

The ChangeUp show was canceled before the 2020 MLB season. His contract with DAZN ended in 2022.

Currently, Adnan co-hosts MLB Tonight. He also appears on the NHL Network.

Time at WWE

On April 12, 2021, Adnan Virk became a commentator for Monday Night Raw. He replaced Tom Phillips in this role. However, after about six weeks, he and WWE decided to part ways. Adnan said the travel schedule was too much for him and his family. Jimmy Smith replaced him as the commentator.

Appearing in Movies

Adnan Virk made his first movie appearance in 2023. He played a sports announcer in the film Big George Foreman. This movie is a biography about the famous boxer George Foreman.

Hosting Prime Monday Night Hockey

In April 2024, Rogers Communications announced a new deal. They would move some of their NHL games to Amazon Prime Video. These would be the Monday night games played in Canada. In September 2024, it was announced that Adnan Virk would co-host Prime Monday Night Hockey. He hosts the pre-game, intermission, and post-game parts of the show with Andi Petrillo. The show started on October 14, 2024.