Meet the LA King’s Broadcaster Nick Nickson

Sports, it’s more than just a game, it’s an unspoken bond you share with your fellow sports fans that brings people together from all walks of life to relate over the play-by-plays, good and bad referee calls and seeing your favorite team either win or lose. It’s something that is shared through generations that no matter what, you will always have your team to root for. Nick Nickson has been an LA Kings broadcaster for over 30 years and has played a huge role in getting the information to the fans while making games more exciting with his announcements.
Broadcasting was not always Nick’s plan in his early years, but his major in communications and family background led him to pursue this in his final years of college. “My father was in broadcasting, he was a disc jockey for many years so it was sort of engrained in me; it wasn’t until my junior year where I start thinking about broadcasting with my first job as a disc jockey. Here I worked weekends until I got my first job in sports broadcasting in 1976,” stated Nick. Nick began his career working in his hometown of Rochester, New York. “About a year after I graduated, I worked with the American Hockey League broadcasting for Rochester, this was for about a season and a half until I moved to New Haven, Connecticut,” added Nick.
After five years with the New Haven Night Hawks team, Nick would move to California where he would continue his career that spanned over decades. “I got a phone call from the Kings’ assistant coach, Parker MacDonald, and he mentioned to me that one of the broadcasters in LA was leaving and if I was interested to get him a tape, I sent it in, had an interview and was hired soon after,” Nick stated. Eventually settling in the Santa Clarita Valley with his wife and young child, Nick has called this community home since 1984. “I have never been west of Ohio, ever in my life, we were looking for something close to the Forum and then we took a drive out to Santa Clarita and fell in love with the area, it was more spacious, and you could get more house for your money,” Nick stated.
This year marks Nick’s 40th season with the LA Kings and last month he hit another milestone with his 4000th pro hockey broadcast.” To be able to broadcast games for as along as I have, I still love preparing for games and looking forward to seeing the games because something always happens that you might not have seen before,” continued Nick. With his career, Nick has seen a lot of wins and growth with his team. From coming up as an underdog to winning a championship, and having some of the greatest players of all time, Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne, join the team. “It was a magical time for the LA Kings and being able to see all this happen and all that is happening now, still has me in awe of the players at this level and has made me always love what I do and I hope to continue to do for as long as I can,” Nick added. 

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