A familiar Philadelphia voice is getting a boost to the national stage, as\u00a0USA Network named\u00a0Sixers play-by-play announcer Kate Scott its lead broadcaster for WNBA coverage starting next season.<\/p>\n
Scott, who’s had\u00a0a pioneering career that’s spanned two decades,\u00a0is entering her fifth season with the Sixers. Last month, she became the first woman to announce an NFL game for Westwood One<\/a>, the largest audio broadcast network in the country, when she was on the call when the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a05 Sixers thoughts: Quentin Grimes reunion nearing; fair to be concerned by poor start to preseason?<\/a><\/p>\n The California native previously worked as a play-by-play and sideline reporter for men’s and women’s basketball in the San Francisco area from 2015-2021 and called basketball games during the 2020 Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n “What an honor it is to reconnect with women’s basketball at this time with this league,” Scott told\u00a0the Athletic<\/a>. “This is just the perfect opportunity with a company and a network that realizes and sees how big the W is and how much bigger it can be.”\u00a0<\/p>\n She was also the first woman to call a PAC-12 football game, part of the first all-women NHL broadcast crew and was\u00a0the first female announcer in the Madden NFL video game franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n USA Network, which will join media company Versant next year, recently agreed to an 11-year broadcast deal with the WNBA, announcing last week that the channel\u00a0will show 50-plus games per season \u2014 more than any other network. Scott will be on the call for one of the Wednesday night double-headers and during the postseason, according to the Athletic.<\/p>\n “We are incredibly proud to have Kate Scott lead USA Network’s WNBA coverage,” Jeff Behnke, Versant’s executive producer for sports, said in a statement. “Kate’s veteran broadcasting experience and her immense passion for the league will be a big win for the national audience watching and listening to her call the WNBA on USA for years to come.”\u00a0<\/p>\n The announcement comes at a time when the city is making its own forays into the growing women’s basketball industry.<\/p>\n Last week, it was announced that the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league<\/a>, which was created for players to compete during the WNBA offseason, would be making a stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena\u00a0in January, marking the first professional women’s basketball game to be played in the city in nearly three decades.<\/p>\n