When Michael Jordan played his first professional game, Bill Hazen described it. When the Atlanta Braves won their only World Series title, Bill Hazen described it. When Al McGuire's Marquette basketball team appeared in the NCAA Finals, Bill Hazen described it. When Eric Dickerson and Craig James established their Hall of Fame credentials as the Pony Express backfield at SMU, Bill Hazen described it. When the Chicago Sting won the last North American Soccer League title, Bill Hazen described it. When Ron Howard broke the G-League career scoring record, Bill Hazen described it. And that’s just the beginning.
Through over forty years of major market, regional and national broadcasting, Bill Hazen has adhered to one goal...to capture the essence and excitement of sporting events and relate them to the audience. Bill's play-by-play career has spanned the cable television age, and many of his announcing assignments have been in this medium. They have included NBA basketball, major league baseball and NFL football, as well as major college, minor league and prep sports on both radio and TV.
Bill Hazen has called the shots for three NBA teams: the Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. While with the Bulls, he described the professional debut of Michael Jordan and televised over fifty of his games during a spectacular rookie season. The NBA selected four of Hazen's play-by-play descriptions for its promotional series, The NBA: It's FANtastic! One of them, featuring Bulls' center Jawann Oldham blocking three back-to-back shots, ran for three seasons on CBS Television. It was the only promo in the series showcasing a single play-by-play voice.
Hazen was tabbed by ESPN International to describe its package of NBA games, including the NBA Playoffs and Finals. This assignment expanded into baseball and football, where he called the NLCS, ALCS and World Series, as well as NFL Football. The Football Network chose him for its highly-acclaimed National Prep Football Game of the Week. He also described the Chicagoland Prep Game of the Week for KOST Broadcasting and WCPX-TV (Channel 38).
A protegè of legendary Indianapolis 500 announcer Sid Collins, Hazen began his broadcast career at WCSI Radio in Columbus, Indiana. At age 23, he broke through to the Sports Director position at WISN Radio in Milwaukee. The assignment included the opportunity to call Marquette basketball during the Al McGuire era. Hazen also served in radio sports announcing capacities for KTRH in Houston, WFAA in Dallas, KMOX in St. Louis and WIND Radio in Chicago. Play-by-play assignments included Southwest Conference football and basketball, SMU basketball, Missouri basketball (TV), Mesquite Rodeo (ESPN), Power Boat Racing from Miami (ESPN) and soccer broadcasts for the Houston Hurricane, Dallas Tornado, St. Louis Steamers and Chicago Sting.
Hazen’s play-by-play descriptions are showcased on two major ESPN documentaries, the Emmy Award-winning Last Dance (about Michael Jordan’s pro basketball career with the Chicago Bulls) and Pony Excess (a documentary in the ESPN 30 for 30 series about SMU’s Pony Express backfield). Known for his ability to capture and describe key moments in game action, Hazen’s voice is often heard SOF (sound-up-full) on national sportscasts, regional network presentations and on local television.
Today Hazen operates his own production company, Bill Hazen Productions. He provides sports-related services, including play-by-play broadcasting, development and production of syndicated radio programs and commercials and public relations support. Hazen serves as the play-by-play broadcaster on numerous college events (ESPN2 and ESPN+), as well as the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G-League (ESPNU, ESPN+, NBA-TV, Twitch and Facebook Live). During the football and basketball season, he calls the action for the STARadio Group’s Game of the Week broadcast, known as Game Night. He also describes the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Game of the Week for the Region Sports Network (Facebook Live).
Bill Hazen Productions produces radio programming for radio syndication and podcast distribution. Clients have included Conference USA, the American Indoor Football Association, the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants, Gary Steelheads and the Chicago Shamrocks. Hazen also produced and hosted Stadiums USA Radio, which aired on over 500 radio stations nationally through the SB Nation Radio Network. He continues to host BHP’s flagship weekly sports program, College Sports Weekly, which airs in independent broadcast syndication as well as in podcast form. He also serves as a commercial spokesman for North States Broadcasting.
Hazen is often requested to share his experience and expertise in sports broadcasting. He teaches a graduate-level course in Sports Communication at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia College in Chicago. Several of his students are heard and seen both nationally and in the highly-competitive Chicago market. He has spoken with broadcast students at his alma mater, Butler University, Valparaiso University and Calumet College of St. Joseph.
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