American Sports broadcaster Leigh Diffey joins Breakfast with Vossy and Brandy

that is the voice of an Aussie done good I'll go better an Aussie done great in the US calling indie car racers week in week out he's going to be the voice of NBC's Athletics coverage during the Olympics in Paris Lee DIY from the US good morning to you good morning fellas thanks for having me on firstly and most importantly we should say congratulations on this remarkable career do you still pinch yourself working in the biggest sporting Market in the world covering some of the most exciting and attractive events I do I I really do uh I'm a kid who grew up in Suburban Brisbane and um started started out calling dirt bikes outside of ipswitch and so it's a it's a long way from there never never dreamt that I would even get a job on television let alone a job internationally and and working for you know an organization like NBC and calling the Olympics so yeah I still do very much pinch pinch myself and at this very moment I'm talking to you from my home in Connecticut and my my mom my 81y old mom from Brisbane is here so when she comes we talk about a lot of old times so that makes it even more present and special uh Le I guess a boy growing up in Brisbane you are a Bronco supporter but we'll get we'll get to that in a moment I how long have you been in Connecticut and how like what was the what was the the transfer from Australia to America how long ago did it happen and um if I I'll tell you the reason why we're interviewing you Lee I was listening to senn uh a couple of weekends ago and I heard an American correspondent chatting to I don't know which show it was on and he said uh well the call of the Indie 500 was that good and uh he said the Aussie calling it and I thought oh who who's the Aussie calling the Indie 500 and then he said uh and then he went on to say and he's going to call some uh olyp uh Olympic actions some Athletics in the Olympics I got out of the car and didn't find out who you were so I'm ringing people and I rang Russell and I said MADD do you know who the caller could be he's a he's a nausey guy he's calling the Indie anyway you came up very quickly and I said well we've got to chat to Lee because uh the Americans love him how long have you been over there and doing it well it's one of those it's one of those stories of a 25 year overnight success story I think Brandy um I I started in Australia and television uh in 1996 at Channel 10 and sports tonight and then I called the V8 Supercars and a lot of Motorsport in Australia as well as continuing the work on sports tonight and and was kind of uh hosting sports tonight you know a couple of nights a week and what have you but then I had an opportunity to go to the UK uh which I I went took a risk and went and I worked for the BBC for a couple of years and then I came to the US here in 2002 um had a brief scent back in Australia but but I've been here for the best part of 20 years and and and proudly haven't lost the Aussie accent no you haven't no no and not through the call you could tell that you Aussie when you were calling that um NBC is that who you're working for uh at the Olympics Lee yes right yep NBC is the uh is the biggest um broadcaster of the Olympics in the world um we have terrific viewing audiences here but just the volume of hours that we have on the air and the dedication um I think our last contract that we signed that goes through 2032 was $ 7.7 billion um so NBC takes the Olympics very seriously and um it's it's I you know again I I can't believe that I'm a part of it this the Paris will be my six sixth Olympics really NBC yeah so it's really yeah and I do both summer and winter games and it's kind of funny when I when I commentate on so in the summer games it's track and field in the winter games I do the sliding events bob sled skeleton and illusion but particularly in the track events it's it's always difficult because Team USA is very dominant and and but then you know the Aussies we have we have some great athletes as well but so I'm kind of looking I'm looking in two different places and my heart's in two different places and my head's in two different places but of course you can't be biased either way so it's um I I guess I can't win uh sorry I can't lose you know who who whoever wins I've got a foot in both camps okay and and so the rest of the time you are just busy calling Motorsport um but do you do you cross pars with cuz NBC do commentate NFL don't they they have part a few of the games they they do it a little bit differ than what they do here but yeah do you cross paths with some of those great commentators that work in other sports for NBC and and the oh yes for sure for sure yeah Mike too who calls uh Sunday Night Football which is the most watched show uh in America um Mike's a really good friend of ours and mine he comes and hosts the Indie 500 while we commentate the n500 Mike will come and being a host rooll he's our number one man he's the face of the Olympics for us uh the Kentucky Derby the Triple Crown uh he's he's the the face of golf for us he does he does it all so um Mike has been a good friend for a number of years and yeah um we we get it's a really family feel when we get to go to the Olympics because you do get to meet and talk to people who you know even though we're in the same line of business and we work for the same network uh it's always fun to go talk to the football folks or you know the French Open people or golf or whoever it might be because there's quite a bit of crossover yeah he um when it comes to our response here this morning the Big G sums things up nicely morning Lee is one of our great Aussie exports that no one knows about well we're slowly introducing him making sure that more people know about the great work of Lee DIY and another one here um from 710 great show fellas uh lee DIY is fantastic was on channel 10 as you've outlined before getting the gig in the US and yes he does a great job great to hear an Aussie voice calling all the sport back to your accent you can work as hard as you like and I know you pride yourself on your work ethic you have to be in the sports broadcasting game but despite all that hard work and everything that you can control you couldn't control how the US audience responded to the Australian accent as perfect as it is as you speak to us now so why did they accept it and and how do you feel about the fact that you have not lost your accent and it is received um well by a us audience such a great question Maddie um when I first came here uh I was really uh self-conscious of it I got here through my work ethic and and my knowledge of the sport um and right time right place you know there are opportunities you've got to recognize those opportunities but then also act on those opportunities I like to tell a lot of young aspiring journalists or broadcast or just anybody in life we're surrounded by opportunities but you got to see them first and then act act upon them second it's like you know if you were to put it for for Brandy in a football sense you know you do you see a gap you go for that Gap do you do you do you make the pass do you keep the ball yourself you know you got to see those opportunities and I've been very lucky to have a lot of great people help me along the way but I've also had to take some fairly big big risk myself when I got here I was pretty self-conscious of my voice and here 22 plus years ler later um it's turned out to be my greatest asset because people can instantly recognize me so whether I'm calling the 100 meter final at the Olympics or the World Championships or whatever it might be or calling the Indianapolis 500 or Supercross or you know any of the other properties that I work on um Rugby World Cup final I've hosted for the last two World Cups and you know wherever I am I know that people instantly know that it's me because there are no other Aussies on us Network sports television that sound like me that's right pretty unique time is getting away but I'll just touch on a few other elements of Lee's story he had the avocados to ring Bernie eckleson and said I want to call Formula 1 and you know what his secretary got back and lined up an interview and another gate opened I'm giving Brandy a cuddle in the studio here at the moment Le because we do get on off set or off television as well as on it and that leads you into what you believe is the key to good broadcasting right it is you've got to be you you've got to have some dinners together or a couple of beers together or coffee in the morning together or whatever you got to talk to your your on air mates midweek and then when you're there because if you do get on off there you get on a whole lot better on there and people always say boy it sounds like you guys are having fun that's because you are legitimately having fun you don't have to fake that on the broadcast yeah that is that is that is so true uh it is so true me and Andrew spend a lot of time together you know we can be in here every morning and then we can be together all weekend um but we enjoy each other other's company it comes true you've got to Le it's it's it's almost like origin you know you've got to have that bonding session to to get familiar with everyone sort of so it's a it's an ongoing bonding session basically well brandy brandy I really wish we had the camera on on if we could see this because just for you I brought down my maron's jersey from from from from the closet upstairs knew was I knew something was coming reor this is where you raised last year's Grand Final because Lea Broncos man you're penth director and and Premiership winning Captain Brandy this is where you raise the 2023 Grand Final we we do have a say here on on the breakfast show don't we when you win rub it in um Lee you've you've had your turn I feel so desperately sorry for those brisman supporters that had to sit through that a miraculous comeback led by Nathan clear um not really it was unbeliev it was an unbelievable comeback and you know the best thing I never did the best thing I never did was get on a plane to come home because Carlton is my AFL team and the Broncos are my NRL team and I was so confident that both my teams were going to make their respective Grand finals and I said to my wife I got a weekend off I'm just going to jump on the plane and go to Melbourne and Sydney and then lo and behold Carlton didn't make it and then so I thought it's a bit far to go just for one Grand Final and then your your your boys staged one of the greatest comebacks ever so yeah and just quickly I watched I watched in pain yeah did you get a chance did you get a chance to go to Vegas to watch the Broncos I didn't I didn't I just wasn't able to because of my work schedule but but a lot of my mates did a lot of oy mates in New York City they went out and friends from all over the country and they said it was fantastic very difficult um for a new sport to make a splash uh here in in the most complex sports Market in the world but what the NRL did and everybody involved in Las Vegas was Unreal considering that they went there a week after the Super Bowl in a massive stadium and the amount of people that turned up was was a to the NRL it was awesome well Le Dy continue to fly the Australian flag with such distinction in the US we'll follow your career with much Applause as you cover Motorsport Athletics for the Olympics and whatever else crosses your path I hope we speak more often Lee Diffy in the US great to chat thanks for your time awesome thanks fellas thanks so much for having me on good on you Lee