Glenn Davis spent 20 years as the play-by-play announcer for the Houston Dynamo, but he won’t be coming back for year 21.
According to Davis, that is because he was too critical of team ownership.
Davis posted a message on X last week saying he’d been ‘relieved of his duties’ as the team’s announcer, a role he’d filled since its inaugural season in 2006.
The Dynamo told the Chron that Davis was on a year-to-year contract, which the club decided not to renew.
Davis called Dynamo matches locally in Houston, as well as other soccer competitions for national outlets like Fox Sports and ESPN. After MLS moved all of its broadcast rights to Apple TV, Davis could be accessed via the local home radio option on MLS Season Pass.
The former pro player also hosted a weekly radio show on ESPN 97.5. He believes his outspokenness on his radio program cost him his job.
In a November segment, Davis criticized owner Ted Segal as well as minority investor Tim Howard, a longtime U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper.
Davis called out Howard for not investing enough time in the club and was critical of both for their alleged condescension toward fans.
‘Any of the things I’ve said, in any professional soccer league, the NFL, MLB, the NBA, they are child’s play. They are nothing top executives shouldn’t be able to handle,’ Davis told Chron. ‘But they were intimidated by my criticism.’
Davis added his belief that his outspoken nature led to the end of his two-decade association with the Dynamo.
‘It can’t be anything else, because my salary has decreased every year with new ownership.’
Davis said that Segal, as well as former owner Gabriel Brener, were invested in the team for profit — not necessarily to win games or build ties with the local community.
‘You buy ’em, you occupy ’em, you wait for appreciation to occur for four, five, however many years,’ Davis said. ‘Then you sell it, and walk away making money.’
Davis elaborated on that opinion in his post on X last week.
“It is my sincere hope that one day the priority of the Houston Dynamo truly shifts — to being a soccer club in the fullest sense of the word, one that values the game itself as much as investment and business decisions,” he wrote.
“I say this because I care deeply. I believe this club is underachieving in too many areas and has failed to be relevant in a city that lives and breathes the sport. This city, you the fans, and the early legacy of the Dynamo deserve more. It is sad that those that care deeply seemed to be deemed a threat.”Davis added on X this week that club president Pat Onstad was not to blame for his departure.
‘I want to make something clear here,’ Davis said. ‘Pat Onstad stood up for me and showed respect and class for the situation.’