Photo courtesy of Laura Sanko via Twitter
Saturday, Feb. 4, marked a historic day for women in sports. Specifically, it was a huge day for women covering sports, as Laura Sanko became the first woman to commentate an official UFC event.
Sanko had commentated on a plethora of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) events, but this was a new echelon. Sanko, a former fighter, was able to provide insight that others who’ve graced the desk, such as Jon Anik, Brendan Fitzgerald and Mike Goldberg, can’t. It begs the question: what took so long?
The UFC has had several women on their broadcasts as hosts and presenters; Meghan Olivi and Karyn Bryant have been UFC staples for years. Yet neither of them has been afforded the opportunity to actually commentate on a UFC card. This is demonstrates the tendency of networks to keep women as hosts and presenters while keeping them out of play-by-play or color commentary roles.
A caveat here is that women have graced the commentator booth before, but never regularly or with positive feedback. For some reason, fans harbor a hatred toward female broadcasters.
Gayle Sierens is the only woman to have ever commentated an NFL broadcast, when she was tasked with commentating a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs in 1987. Sierens opened plenty of doors within sports broadcasting that allowed Erin Andrews, Beth Mowins and many others to rise to prominence.
Sports Illustrated found a number of tweets telling female broadcasters to “Get back in the kitchen” or “Call me sexist, but women announcing male sporting events is un-listenable and when they try to use male sports vernacular/slang it becomes laughable.” All these women have jobs because they are qualified; they have earned their way to the top and these comments demean all the work they’ve done to reach this point.
Doris Burke was the first woman to commentate a New York Knicks game on both radio and television broadcasts. Burke has been associated with ESPN since 1991, and she’s worked alongside legendary broadcasters like Dick Vitale and Avery Johnson. She was a former collegiate basketball player for Providence College, where she was inducted into the hall of fame. She’s more than a viable choice for the commentator’s booth, but she often opts for the analyst role instead.
Malika Andrews is another figure who has done immense work within the NBA without having the pleasure of commentating. She was present in the NBA bubble during the pandemic as well as hosting the 2020 NBA draft telecast. Andrews has been a sideline reporter during the NBA Finals, and she won an Emmy in 2022 for Emerging On-Air Talent. Even with all of these accolades and achievements, Andrews has not commentated on a game.
It’s astounding how few women have commentated, especially because of how many are in the sphere of sports broadcasting. Leslie Visser and Gayle Gardener have both done play-by-play and worked on prestigious events. Visser is the only woman to have ever worked both the Super Bowl and the Olympics, and Gardener was the first woman to do play-by-play for the MLB. Both helped pioneer the industry’s coverage of sports today, yet their credit for these contributions is lost. Sanko is only able to do what she’s doing now because of them.
Ultimately, women need to make their way into more commentary roles. With so many women already in the realm of sports broadcasting, these on-call opportunities should be extended. Much like Sanko’s case, this will only give more opportunities to women across the board and in the future. Why this took so long is a mystery, but if it allows a generation of women to become broadcasters, then it’s well worth it.
