Byington will serve as play-by-play announcer after the idea was initially presented to her last winterLISA BYLINGTON
Revolution-DC United this coming Sunday (Aug. 19) on FS1 will feature something "never seen and heard before on an English-speaking broadcast of men’s professional soccer in the U.S.: An all-female on-air broadcasting team," according to Richard Deitsch of THE ATHLETIC. The play-by-play announcer "will be Lisa Byington, with Danielle Slaton as the game analyst and Katie Witham as the on-field reporter." The game is the "first time an all-female booth will call an English-speaking broadcast of a men’s professional soccer match on a national sports network" in the U.S. Byington said that the idea was "presented to her last winter" by Fox Sports Producer Shaw Brown. When she "learned this spring that Brown had already assigned Slaton and Witham to the game, she wanted in." Brown said, "This is something I’ve considered doing for a long time. It’s important that good broadcasters whether they’re men or women get chances. Also, the MLS season is long and it presents opportunities to introduce new voices and combinations." Where Slaton and Witham are "known qualities in soccer broadcasting, this is a change-up for Byington, who will call college football this fall for BTN." She has "called college soccer and NWSL and played two years of college soccer at Northwestern" (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/13).
