NBA

Raptors plan to use all-female broadcast crew for televised March 24 game

The Toronto Raptors will have women in every on-air role on a televised game March 24 against Denver. CBC Sports contributor Meghan McPeak will have the play-by-play.

CBC Sports contributor Meghan McPeak to be joined by Nurse, Grey, Beirness, Audibert

CBC Sports contributor Meghan McPeak will call the March 24 Raptors game against the Nuggets as part of TSN's all-female broadcast crew. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

The Toronto Raptors will have women in every on-air role on a televised game later this month.

The NBA team made the announcement on International Women's Day.

Meghan McPeak will have the play-by-play and national women's team star Kia Nurse will handle the analysis for a March 24 game against the Denver Nuggets on TSN.

TSN host and reporter Kayla Grey will handle sideline duties, while Kate Beirness and Amy Audibert will host and provide analysis.

The broadcasters also will participate in virtual events to share their experiences, as well as a virtual panel with students from Ryerson University's sport business programs.

"We wanted to highlight the contributions that women make individually -- across so many broadcasts -- by bringing them all together," John Wiggins, Raptors vice-president of organizational diversity and inclusion, said in a statement. "Yes, we're making a point. We hope this leads to more recognition of the many roles women play in pro sports.

NORTH COURTS | Meghan McPeak talks CEBL with league commissioner:

Building a league in our own backyard / North Courts Episode 3

4 years ago
Duration 14:10
Vivek Jacob, Jevohn Shepherd, and Meghan McPeak are back for another episode of North Courts. This week they're joined by CEBL CEO and Commissioner Mike Morreale to talk about building a truly Canadian basketball league, and how it can change the future of basketball in Canada.

Fans back at Raptors games March 19

"And we especially hope that one of the takeaways from this is for girls at home who see Meghan or Amy or Kayla, and think -- hey, I could do that. There's a place for me in sports."

Sportsnet employed an all-female broadcast crew last March for an NHL game between the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights.

Meanwhile, the Raptors also announced a maximum of 3,500 fans will be allowed to attend home games at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., starting March 19.

The team started the year allowing a limited number of fans into the arena before the facility went fan-free in January because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

Get up to speed on what's happening in sports. Delivered weekdays.

...

The next issue of The Buzzer will soon be in your inbox.

Discover all CBC newsletters in the Subscription Centre.opens new window

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service apply.