Longtime Orlando Magic broadcaster looks back on formative years at Liberty

Liberty University alumnus Dante Marchitelli (’98) has been sharing his lifelong love of sports in his almost three-decades career as a broadcaster for the NBA’s Orlando Magic. He got his first taste of sports broadcasting on Liberty Mountain.

A career in sports was a childhood dream for Marchitelli, who grew up just outside of Boston. When he got to Liberty to study mass communications, he took advantage of career-building opportunities like being the sports director for the student radio station (now called 90.9 The Light).

“I got to call baseball games,” he said in a recent interview with “Flames Central.” “They kind of just turned me loose; it was just me. I could bring anybody I wanted as an analyst, (so that) kind of left it all up to me. I’d set up my equipment and (just) make sure we had a connection back to the station.”

Even though he grew up in a Christian household, Marchitelli said he originally did not want to go to church while at Liberty, exerting his independence. But God used that time to draw him closer to Him.

“And I went (to church again), and I’m telling you, we got hooked,” he said. “Everyone on our floor, we just started going together. Even growing up faith-based and hearing it, when you have to make your own decisions and you choose to go on your own, like I did during that time, that to me is when it hit. That to me is when it became powerful and that is when I recommitted. My whole time at Liberty University was learning about God again and just recommitting my faith.”

Marchitelli completed an internship with the Magic in 1998 and has remained with the franchise ever since. He said he enjoys the part he plays in getting to broadcast games into the homes of fans and provide entertainment to others in the midst of whatever else is happening in their lives.

“It’s just a dream come true,” he said. “You feel like a kid every single day. You show up to work, get a call on a game, and you’re providing a relief for 2.5 hours. Whatever anybody’s dealing with in their day, this is their release. This is their opportunity to kind of get away, cheer on their sports team, and then get back to whatever everybody’s dealing with. We get to play a role in that. We get to tell the stories of these players and kind of be the conduit from the fans to the players, and that’s something we take seriously, and we have a lot of fun with it.”

“There’s the old adage, ‘If it’s something you love, it doesn’t feel like work,’ and that’s how it’s felt this whole time,” he added.

Watch the full interview with Marchitelli below.

“Flames Central” is a weekly sports program on ESPN+ featuring Liberty University athletics and the intersection of faith and sports.