Arda Öcal Talks Fatherhood, Working At ESPN, Star Wars, Broadcasting & More

About this episode

Arda Öcal discusses his fatherhood journey, broadcasting career at ESPN, and his love for Star Wars.

Arda Öcal sits down with me to talk about his fatherhood journey. He and I talk about the life lessons that he has learned from his kids. In addition, Arda talks about making sure he is appreciating every moment with his family. After that we talk about the great work he does over at ESPN. He shares how he got into broadcasting and how he thinks the industry has evolved over the years. Next we dive into the Star Wars universe. We chat about our favorite characters and moments from Star Wars. Lastly, we finish the interview with the Fatherhood Quick Five. About Arda Öcal Arda Öcal is an NHL on ESPN host and a SportsCenter anchor who also hosts SportsCenter on Snapchat, SportsNation, and has contributed to NBA, PGA TOUR, Euro soccer, esports, MLS, UFC, MLB and NFL coverage at ESPN. In addition, Öcal is a member of MENSA International and is a dual official video game world record holder, in NHLPA93 and NHL96 for Sega Genesis. Arda is also the voice of the NHL Gaming World Championship. Arda has a degree in Mathematics from the University in Waterloo and lives in New York with his wife Jennifer and daughters Ayla and Katia. Make sure you follow Arda on Instagram over at @ardaocal…

People in this episode

Host: Art Eddy

Guest: Arda Öcal

Topics covered

• fatherhood
• broadcasting
• Star Wars
• life lessons
• family appreciation

Keywords

• fatherhood
• broadcasting
• ESPN
• Star Wars
• life lessons
• family

Sponsors

BetterHelp

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ESPN, MENSA International

Products: NHL Gaming World Championship, BetterHelp

Places: New York, University in Waterloo

More episodes of The Art of Fatherhood Podcast

• Kenny Mayne Talks Fatherhood, New Greeting Card Collection, His Golf Podcast & More · June 8, 2026 · 33 min
• Noah Galuten Talks Fatherhood, New Cook Book, Grill Time, Cooking & More · June 1, 2026 · 49 min
• Mark Hertling Talks Fatherhood, New Book, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal & More · May 25, 2026 · 42 min
• Michael Schur & Joe Posnanski Talk Fatherhood, New Book, BIG FAN, Fandom, Baseball Cards & More · May 18, 2026 · 52 min
• Jonathan Schor Talks Fatherhood, CodeMonkey, Teaching Kids To Code & More · May 13, 2026 · 26 min
• Connor Barwin Talks Fatherhood, Playing In The NFL, His MTWB Foundation & More · May 11, 2026 · 41 min