Bucks hire first female announcer in professional men’s sport

The Milwaukee Bucks have named Lisa Byington as the team’s new television play-by-play announcer at Bally Sports Wisconsin, making her the first woman to have full-time television play-by-play responsibilities for a men’s sports team. in one of the major leagues.

Byington replaces longtime Bucks storyteller Jim Paschke, who retired after the 2020-21 season after serving as the team’s play-by-play television announcer for the past 35 years. The Bucks and Fiserv Forum president Peter Feigin announced the signing of Byington on Wednesday.

In a statement, Byington said she was “very excited” about the opportunity “to work with a world-class franchise and championship organization like the Milwaukee Bucks.”

“I know I will be filling the role that Jim Paschke played for so long, and he appreciated his passion for the team and the memorable moments that his voice will always be a part of,” said Byington. “I don’t want to overlook acknowledging his hard work and commitment to the franchise, and I’m honored to be the one taking the lead from him. Above all, I’m excited to work with such an incredible team of Marques Johnson, Zora Stephenson, Steve Novak and everyone involved with Bucks games at Bally Sports Wisconsin. “

Byington, who previously narrated play-by-play for the Women’s World Cup on Fox in 2019, was the first woman to narrate matches from the NCAA men’s tournament last March as part of CBS / Turner Sports coverage. Subsequently she was behind the microphone for the men’s and women’s soccer games at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for NBC Sports.

Between 2017 and 2019, Byington worked as a field reporter for the NCAA men’s tournament on CBS and Turner, and also has experience narrating the plays for various NBA and WNBA games, among other assignments.

She became the first female play-by-play storyteller for a Big Ten Network college football game in 2017.

Byington has narrated games for Fox Sports, FS1, Big Ten Network, CBS, Turner Sports, Pac-12 Network, ESPN, and SEC Network in a play-by-play and reporting capacity. She played basketball and soccer while attending Northwestern University.

“We are so excited to welcome Lisa to the Bucks family and bring such a talented play-by-play announcer to our broadcast team,” Feigin said in a statement. “Lisa’s extensive experience in the television industry, including her play-by-play work for top-level basketball on various national networks, makes her the perfect choice to take on this important role. While we appreciate what it means to have selected Lisa , and we celebrate this historic moment, Lisa earned this position based on her extraordinary talents and experience. We look forward to Lisa becoming the voice of the Bucks. “

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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