Women make up a growing percentage of sports fans—but rarely hear a woman’s voice in play-by-play commentary. I don’t watch every sport, but in the ones I do, women are mostly limited to sideline roles or emotional coverage—not game calls. As someone who dreams of doing commentary, that really hits home for me.
I have a quick quiz to start us off. Can anyone tell me how many women have called an NFL game?
1. Gayle Sierens (worked a single regionally broadcasted game in 1987.)
2. Beth Mowins (called a Broncos vs Chargers season opener in 2017. She still does play-by-play but mostly for college football on ESPN and the Raiders pre-season games.)
3. Kate Scott (called two 49s games on the radio in 2016, is part of the Madden 25 video game and is now listed as a Seattle Seahawks commentator.)
This isn’t to discredit them—it’s incredibly cool and important that they’re doing this. But... it’s still just two out of hundreds.
A few more stats for you:
Out of 102 regional and national play-by-play NFL commentators, 2 are women
Out of 127 regional and national analysts, 1 is a woman
(Out of 92 side-line reporters, 47 are women.)
Out of 102 regional and national play-by-play NFL commentators, 2 are women
Out of 127 regional and national analysts, 1 is a woman
(Out of 92 side-line reporters, 47 are women.)
How many of you watched the 2025 Super Bowl? Can you tell me who the women who were part of the broadcast were?
When you google Erin Andrews, 2025 Super Bowl guess what comes up?
When you google Erin Andrews, 2025 Super Bowl guess what comes up?
Out of the first 25 articles that come up,
1 was about her plans post retirement.
1 was an interview about her clothing brand
1 was about her voice during an interview with Jalen Hurts and
22 were about the outfit she wore.
1 was an interview about her clothing brand
1 was about her voice during an interview with Jalen Hurts and
22 were about the outfit she wore.
In comparison, when you search the other broadcasters, you learn their career history, reviews of their commentary, analysis and reporting, and the next game you can hear them (and also Tom Brady’s $740K watch.)
As a female fan and aspiring broadcaster, this was hard to unsee. I’m part of two underrepresented groups—and not even counting sponsors who care about diversity, or young girls watching. Seeing this makes me want to support networks that uplift women and find out which games feature female voices.
The stats say about 40% of NFL viewership is women, but only 1¾% of commentators and analysts are women. If you add in reporters, that puts it to 20%, but still a vast difference.
Now the easy answer to fix this is to hire more women for main commentary and analyst roles, but that’s not the ACTUAL answer. The two main things I can see helping is build a development pipeline: scholarships, internships, mentorship programs. And just as important: media coverage has to evolve. What happened with Erin Andrews is common. That kind of framing makes it hard to be taken seriously.
Making changes like this will help boost inclusion. It’s about growing the game, inspiring future talent, and keeping sports relevant and inclusive. If we ignore this, we risk pushing fans and potential stars away. Representation isn’t just about fairness—it’s about shaping the future of the sports we all love.
So I want to open it up: Why do you think change here is so slow? And what role should fans—or even college programs like ours—play in changing that?
Strategic Sports Communication, Tom Lamonica, Illinois State University
