Mark Fratto's journey to announcing the biggest game in world sports began in the most humble of circumstances. As a first-grader at St. Mary's School in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., he performed readings during Catholic Mass services on the first Friday of every month. When he and his younger brother Timmy played Wiffle ball in their backyard, pretending to be New York Yankees players, young Mark handled the introductions.

Now, at 49 years old, Fratto is preparing to address the most global sports audience imaginable: the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

"I get a little nervous before every game, and I think my nerves in this case are entirely related to the fact that I'm saying a lot of challenging international names," Fratto says. "I want to do it with authenticity to make the fans of those teams feel welcomed and excited and give them the same kind of authentic experience that they have in their home stadiums, or in other places in the world."

A Career Three Decades in the Making

Countless paid gigs have followed in the three decades since those early beginnings. Fans of the NFL's Washington Commanders, the NBA's Washington Wizards, and Major League Soccer's New York City Football Club would recognize his distinctive voice.

"My goal is to make sure I'm putting in enough of the work and doing enough of the preparation to make sure I get everyone's names right, because for a lot of players, this is their dream. For a lot of fans, attending these matches is their dream. And for everyone, this could be their first World Cup or it could be their last World Cup, and I'm part of the team that is charged with making it memorable for all those groups and all those people."

Fratto has served as the public-address announcer for the previous seven World Cup games at MetLife Stadium, but Sunday's final represents the pinnacle of his career.

Extensive Preparation for International Names

The audition process was particularly strenuous. When he applied for the World Cup announcer position, Fratto was required to submit a recording of his pronunciations of all players' names on the projected rosters for Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan.

"Those names were, for the most part, much more demanding than those he has pronounced when working as the public-address announcer at Commanders football games since 2023 at Northwest Stadium and Wizards basketball games since 2019 at Capital One Arena," the report notes.

One of the directives for all public-address announcers at this World Cup, regardless of location, has been to let the fans infuse the stadiums with energy through their cheering, songs, and chants. This means World Cup announcers speak much less frequently than their counterparts in the NFL or NBA, getting out of the way to make the fan experience as authentic as possible to the traditions in the teams' home countries.

Handling High-Pressure Moments

Fratto acknowledges he has a dream job, but it is not without its pressures or responsibilities. The NFL, for instance, requires its public-address announcers to finish speaking with at least 20 seconds remaining on the play clock before a visiting team is required to snap the ball.

Darius Smith, the Commanders' senior director for game presentation and entertainment, described Fratto as a consummate professional. He recalled an example from October 5, 2023, when Chicago Bears Hall of Fame middle linebacker Dick Butkus died at 80 years old just hours before the Commanders hosted the Bears.

"He helped craft the script based off experience and adding in some language that he felt passionate about, which was agreed upon," Smith says. "Just having that level of professionalism, but also caring about the moment, making sure that he was paying respect to the Butkus family… I noticed he was really prepared and able to handle it."

From Poughkeepsie to the World Stage

Fratto grew up in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a city along the Hudson River about 80 miles north of midtown Manhattan. He played baseball and ran cross-country at Our Lady of Lourdes High School and wanted to try out for the boys' basketball team as a junior, but his baseball teammates told him he wasn't good enough to make the varsity.

Instead, they encouraged him to work as the public-address announcer for the basketball games. At his friends' urging, he mimicked the Chicago Bulls' enthusiastic announcer, Ray Clay, whose pregame introductions had become famous because Michael Jordan had elevated the Bulls to repeated national television appearances.

Now a husband and father to two boys (seven-year-old Jackson and five-year-old Mason), Fratto owns a company called Linacre Media, which does live sporting event production for broadcast and streaming platforms, voiceover work, and media consulting work, including his announcing work.

"I never forget how fortunate I am to have a job like this," he says. "I have a company that provides for my family, and I'm in the toy aisle or the candy aisle of life, having a ridiculously good time every time I leave the house and go to work."

"Because of that, I feel obligated to do a great job for the people on my home teams, and for all of those who are coming out to watch their teams. For the World Cup, the gravity is there because the people care about their teams so much."