Joe Buck will make his return to the Busch Stadium broadcast booth on Friday night alongside Chip Caray to broadcast the St. Louis Cardinals game against the Chicago Cubs at 8:15 p.m. EST on Bally Sports Midwest. Buck’s father and Caray’s grandfather worked together on Cardinals radio broadcasts on KMOX from 1954 to 1959 and 1961 to 1969. Both St. Louis natives made an indelible impact on fans of the team and Major League Baseball as a whole. Friday night will mark the first time since 1969 that a Buck and Caray broadcast team will call a Cardinals game together. On Thursday’s edition of MLB Now on MLB Network – hosted by Brian Kenny and featuring Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo and Bob Costas – Joe Buck appeared to discuss the significance of the moment.

Buck, who joined ESPN in 2022 to serve as the voice of Monday Night Football with longtime broadcast partner Troy Aikman, was previously the lead play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ coverage of the National Football League and Major League Baseball. During his time behind the microphone for MLB on FOX, he worked with Tim McCarver and John Smoltz for broadcasts across 24 World Series championships and numerous marquee matchups. Buck has divulged in the past that he misses calling games for the local team and evinces a connection between broadcasters and fans. Before working at FOX Sports, he called Cardinals games on KMOX radio on FOX Sports Net Midwest.

“I think as far as calling baseball, doing the local stuff and being able to root with the watching and listening audience I think it’s a part of it that I missed when I went to FOX,” Buck said. “It’s just a different job, and I think when you’re thinking and I think hoping along with the fanbase that you’re talking to, there’s something fun about that, and that’s the part of it that I miss. So, will there be more games? I don’t know, but I’m going to have fun tomorrow night.”

Buck explained that Bill DeWitt III, the president of the St. Louis Cardinals, had approached him with the idea to return to call a Cardinals game while he was with FOX Sports at the end. Once he joined ESPN, DeWitt brought up the idea with more frequency, but Buck articulated that he was content with being at ESPN and broadcasting football games.

Caray became the play-by-play voice of the Cardinals last season and appears on Bally Sports Midwest alongside a rotation of color commentators that includes Jim Edmonds and Brad Thompson. Buck will be in the booth with Caray on Friday serving in a multifaceted role.

“Now that I have 6-year-old boys who are both playing coach-pitch baseball, I kind of want to do it to get them down on the field, to get them in the booth [and] let them see what I did for 35 years of my life and enjoy it,” Buck said. “And I’ll be honest – it’s narcissistic; it’s ego-filled that I’m doing it, but I’m really excited to get back in the booth and to work with Chip and to do play-by-play and color and switch off, and just to have two-and-a-half, three hours of fun.”

Last month, CBS Sports and the WNBA announced a multi-year agreement featuring the largest slate of games broadcast by the network. Their first game is coming up this weekend with the New York Liberty at the Minnesota Lynx on CBS and Paramount+ on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Today, they announced the game announcers who will be providing coverage this season, including play-by-play announcers Lisa Byington and Jordan Kent.

Byington is the television play-by-play voice of the Milwaukee Bucks and does games for the Chicago Sky of the WNBA. Jordan Kent is a former NFL wide receiver who was a three-sport athlete in college which included playing basketball for his dad, former Oregon head coach Ernie Kent. He is also the former television play-by-play announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers.

“I am really excited to be a part of this team, can’t wait to showcase this league on another big stage, and it all starts this weekend!” said Byington on a social media post.

Julianne Viani, who has provided analysis for the Atlantic 10 Conference and YES Network’s coverage of the New York Liberty was named one of the game analysts. Another game analyst will be former Syracuse standout guard and Connecticut Sun color commentator Isis Young.

Sideline reporters include AJ Ross, Tiffany Blackmon, Emily Proud and Tina Cervasio.

“We’re thrilled to extend our strong partnership with the WNBA,” Dan Weinberg, executive vice president of programming of CBS Sports, said when the news was announced. “As the league continues to build momentum, this is a great opportunity to expand our broadcast presence and further lean into our commitment to providing a national platform for women’s sports.”

Throughout her broadcast career, Jules Breach has had a variety of opportunities to cover football (soccer) across various professional entities. As the lead reporter and presenter for TNT Sports in the United Kingdom, she is responsible for keeping viewers informed and entertained throughout the coverage of the game within a panoply of competitive fields such as the Premier League, Europa League and Champions League.

Breach will now have a new opportunity to demonstrate her football knowledge and media proficiency in the United States as the lead host for UEFA EURO Match Day, the FOX Sports studio show surrounding UEFA EURO 2024. The program will provide viewers with extensive pre-match and post-match coverage from the group stage to the championship round on FOX and FS1.

FOX Sports secured the media rights to the tournament through a six-year agreement with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which implements several championship matches and national team competitions. Coverage of UEFA EURO 2024 begins on Friday, June 14 at 3 p.m. EST when Germany opens group stage play against Scotland broadcast on the FOX television network. As a whole, the division will broadcast 46 UEFA 2024 and 32 CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 matches live on FOX, FS1 and FS2, and all matches will also be available to stream live on the FOX Sports app.

“It’s an absolute honor to be the lead host for FOX Sports’ coverage of the Euros this summer,” Breach said. “I’m absolutely buzzing. I am the biggest football fan, so to be hosting a tournament as big as this for a network as big as FOX is genuinely a dream come true.”

Breach articulated that she will bring the perspective of the fans to the airwaves while also being able to effectively contextualize the action through her previous experiences. At the same time, she possesses genuine excitement surrounding the sport and an inclination to align her colleagues with broadcast success.

Although the full roster of analysts has yet to be revealed, Breach hinted that it will include an array of different nationalities that will foster a congenial environment. One of the analysts joining Breach in studio is former center-back and Team Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini, someone from whom she will look to extrapolate perspectives pertaining to his team’s championship run in the 2020 iteration of the tournament.

“The analysts that we have – and we’ve got an amazing group of people that I’m going to be sat with every day – they bring the expertise,” Breach said. “They can tell us from their experiences of playing in these big matches what it’s like.”

Breach has been on the air for several different events both at the local and national level during her career working in sports media. Aside from her occupation with TNT Sports, she is the host for Channel 4 coverage of England national football team matches in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, she has covered the UEFA EURO 2020 and two FIFA World Cup tournaments for Optus Sport Australia, along with reporting and hosting for coverage of the UEFA Champions League from CBS Sports. No matter the assignment, Breach finds there to be a catalyzing element to sports that ultimately promulgates fellowship and rapport amid a backdrop of competition, zeal and felicitation.

“We use sport as a way to escape and as a means of entertainment and fun, so I guess I like to bring that side because when I watch sport; when I watch football, that’s what I want to see,” Breach said. “I want to see people smiling and having fun and enjoying it, but obviously there’s also a serious side to sport at times as well, so it’s getting the right balance when you need to.”

During tournament play, FOX Sports will broadcast matchups featuring both established veterans and rising stars within the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modrić and Warren Zaïre-Emery encompass some of the standout performers that will take part in the tournament proceedings. The popularity of football (soccer) continues to flourish globally, demonstrated by record-breaking television audiences, merchandise sales and a blend of domestic and international interest.

Viewership for UEFA EURO 2020, which was delayed by the global pandemic and played in June and July 2021, garnered a live match cumulative event audience of 5.23 billion viewers. Additionally, the live average match audiences for the tournament surpassed 100 million viewers.

“I love that there’s such a huge interest in the Euros,” Breach said. “Obviously this is the first time that FOX is showing the Euros as well, so it’s a really exciting thing for the network, and I’m excited that I can be part of that, but ultimately I think the sport will continue to grow in popularity in the States just because it’s a great sport to watch.”

The UEFA Euro Match Day program from FOX Sports will implement various elements to engage with younger audiences, including a travel series with mirthful and appealing pieces. Although the sport is perceived to be the most popular in the world, the program will aim to resonate with savants who possess a keen aptitude of the game on and off the pitch, along with novices inquisitive to delve deeper into the game. Broadcasts of the show will commence one hour before matches televised on FOX and FS1 throughout the month-long endeavor.

“We’re going to be bringing so much coverage,” Breach said. “There’s going to be our buildup into pretty much every single Euros game that we show, and we’ll make sure that we break things down so people are educated as well as entertained, and we’ll do that with the best analysts.”

Breach has covered the England national football team’s journey to UEFA EURO 2024 and UEFA Nations League campaign on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and is grateful for the chance to continue following the club. Although she hopes that England will ultimately hoist the Henri Delaunay Trophy for the first time in tournament history, she is anticipating UEFA EURO 2024 in its totality and her new hosting role with FOX Sports. Breach will leverage her reporting acumen and conversations with players into her hosting obligations in addition to a broad, comprehensive discernment pertaining to individual and team odysseys towards the prestigious tournament.

“I love the fact that FOX has given me this opportunity, and hopefully I can continue to cover international tournaments for the network,” Breach said. “That’s the dream; that’s what I want to keep doing.”