NBC Sports has announced its lineup of soccer commentators for the Tokyo Olympics. The competition begins Wednesday, July 21.
“Soccer is one of the first Olympic events to take the field, and we will be ready to hit the ground running with an all-star team featuring our Premier League voices joined by a veteran group of announcers with Olympic, World Cup and professional soccer experience,” Rebecca Chatman, vice president and coordinating producer of NBC Olympics, said in the release.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Julie Foudy will serve as an analyst for U.S. women’s games and the women’s gold medal match in Tokyo. Currently a soccer commentator for ESPN, Foudy worked as an NBC Olympics reporter at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2006 Torino Olympic Winter Games. She also was a mainstay in the USWNT midfield for years, including as a member of the 1999 FIFA World Cup-winning team.
Marisa Pilla, who currently serves as a sideline reporter covering the MLS for Fox Sports and the NWSL for CBS Sports, will make her NBC Olympics debut as a reporter for the U.S women’s games and women’s gold medal match.
Lisa Byington will be doing play-by-play in her first NBC Olympics. Byington, who played soccer and basketball at Northwestern, has previously called the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup games for Fox Sports. This past March, she became the first woman to do play-by-play for the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. In August 2018, Byington was part of the first all-female broadcast team to call an MLS match.
Danielle Slaton will reprise her role as an analyst from the 2016 Rio Olympics, while Angela Hucles will return for her third Olympics assignment.
The group also includes Arlo White, Jenn Hildreth, Mark Followill and Derek Rae at play-by-play and Lori Lindsey, Robbie Earle, Robbie Mustoe and Tim Howard in analyst roles.