Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech Sports Properties, the multimedia rights holder for Virginia Tech Athletics, announced Thursday the addition of softball to its rotation of coverage on the Virginia Tech Sports Network from LEARFIELD.
Beginning this spring, a team of broadcast associates with the Virginia Tech Sports Network will team up to cover the Virginia Tech softball program and give exclusive coverage to fans like never before.
Katie Adams, Nick Brown, Giovanni Heater, Carter Hill, Tyler Katz, Kyle Marchak, Madelyn Mirek and Abby Neilson – all undergraduate students that are a part of the Sports Media and Analytics program in Virginia Tech's School of Communication – will work throughout the year to deliver play-by-play coverage and digital content for fans.
"We are always looking for new inventory for our Virginia Tech corporate partnerships," said Kyler Pilling, General Manager LEARFIELD Virginia Tech Sports Properties. "Brands are looking to align with a growing sport and fan base, and this softball program and new broadcast check all the right boxes."
All 23 Virginia Tech softball home games will be broadcast live on the free HokieSports app, the free Varsity Network app and HokieSports.com. It will include a pregame interview with coach Pete D'Amour, as well as pregame and postgame coverage.
"Not many programs have the ability to broadcast their games over the radio," D'Amour said. "Our fans now have the ability to listen to games at any point in their day and don't necessarily have to watch us on TV. We're excited about it."
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Each week on Virginia Tech softball's social media pages, the broadcast associates will conduct interviews with athletes and coaches to give behind-the-scenes content to fans.
The first series that will be broadcast is March 3-5 at Tech Softball Park, where the Hokies open ACC play against NC State. Tyler Katz and Nick Brown will have the call.
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"This is another example of the tremendous on-air opportunities our SMA students experience while they're still undergraduates at Virginia Tech," said Bill Roth, Professor of Practice in Virginia Tech's School of Communication and Virginia Tech football's play-by-play radio commentator. "I appreciate LEARFIELD's confidence in our students to provide top-notch broadcasts for a championship-caliber team."