Lisa Byington to become the first woman to call football on Big Ten Network

During the Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago, it was announced that Lisa Byington will call football games for the Big Ten Network:

BTN President Mark Silverman just announced @LisaByington will do play by play of a football game this fall on BTN.

Whoa!!

— Kevin Kugler (@kevinkugler) July 24, 2017

The Big Ten Network says Byington’s first play-by-play assignment will be on Saturday, September 16 when Bowling Green takes on Northwestern. Byington has filled a plethora of roles at BTN including sideline reporter, studio host and play-by-play on multiple sports.

In addition to BTN, Byington has worked at CBS/Turner Sports on the NCAA Tournament, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, FS1, Pac-12 Network as well as the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and the NWSL’s Chicago Redstars.

She began her career in local TV in Alpena, MI (which Byington points out is the second-smallest TV market in the country) as well as in Lansing MI. She eventually made the jump to the cable sports networks.

Byington follows Pam Ward and Beth Mowins to call college football games on a national level. Although Ward is no longer calling the sport, Mowins has parlayed her college football play-by-play to calling the NFL, first with the Oakland Raiders and now on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Here are a few samples of Byington in action, first chasing down Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh:

Hosting the studio for the Big Ten Network:

https://youtu.be/VpGf_rq3yWk

And calling the Big East Women’s Basketball Championship for FS1 earlier this year with LaChina Robinson:

https://youtu.be/zlx_oypdk3g

For Byington, it’s a big opportunity to call college football and she’ll likely receive vitriol from Twitter trolls. But she’s ready to call the games and make history for Big Ten Network.