From Ireland to New York: Oisín Coyne on Covering Soccer Across Two Broadcasting Worlds
- Jorge "Jumpy" Martinez
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
From the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to matchdays across New York, Oisín Coyne’s career has followed soccer through two very different broadcasting environments.
A few years ago, while still in college, he says he was asked where he wanted to be in the future. His answer was simple: “in the USA, covering the World Cup.” Today, that path has taken shape through work in Irish broadcasting and into the growing soccer landscape in the United States.
Now based in New York, Coyne works with New Logical Sports covering MLS, NWSL and the wider soccer landscape as a reporter and play-by-play commentator. His match coverage has taken him across NYCFC, New York Red Bulls and Gotham FC, as well as the USL Championship and semi-professional levels including the UPSL and WPSL.
A key moment in his move into US soccer came while attending NYCFC against Seattle Sounders at Citi Field.
“I went to that game and thought I’ve got to get involved here,” he says. “The scale, the atmosphere and how the sport is growing in the city made it feel like the right place to be.”
Since then, he has worked across soccer coverage in New York and Philadelphia, including MLS fixtures and World Cup-related events during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
He says the level of the game and the profile of players in the United States continues to rise.
“The league is improving all the time,” he says. “We want to be calling world class players when we’re at games, and that’s happening more and more.”
Coyne says the evolution of MLS has made covering the league particularly striking, moving from the era of players like Robbie Keane and David Beckham to its current stage featuring global stars such as Lionel Messi and Son Hueng-min.
His work in the United States is built on earlier experience in Irish broadcasting, where he covered major soccer competitons including the Europa League Final in Dublin and reporting around Champions League coverage, as well as contributing to RTÉ’s EURO 2024 television production.
He also worked across RTÉ Sport during major sporting periods, including studio sports presenting duties on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland during coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games.
During his reporting at the Europa League Final, Coyne says speaking to travelling German and Italian supporters before the match was part of his experience working in live football environments.
“I spoke to German and Italian supporters at the Europa League Final, and it was part of my experience working in live broadcasting environments,” he says.
He says Irish sports broadcasting is built on storytelling as much as results.
“It’s not just about reporting scores,” he says. “It’s about context, narrative, and what sits behind the game.”
Coyne says he still brings an Irish perspective into his coverage of soccer in the United States, often through feature interviews with players and figures across the game, including Kevin O’Toole of NYCFC and USWNT head coach Emma Hayes.
He also sees strong cultural parallels between soccer in the United States and sport in Ireland.
“I love US soccer culture,” he says. “The people who care about it really care. There’s a real drive to grow the game, similar to home where Gaelic football and hurling sit alongside other sports that compete for attention.”
Coyne has also been inspired by broadcasters who have followed similar paths from Ireland into US sports media, including Kevin Egan, who has built a career across MLS and wider American sports coverage.
Seeing that pathway, he says, has helped him embrace the environment and adapt his own approach to covering soccer in the United States.
At the core of it, he says, the job remains unchanged.
“At the end of the day it always comes back to people and matches. That doesn’t change whether you’re in Dublin or New York.”
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