Golf fans who tune into TNT and CBS Sports broadcasts all know who Amanda Balionis is; she’s become somewhat of a household name. Balionis started her media career at Hofstra University, where she majored (like many on this list) in broadcast journalism.
While still studying, she worked at the student newspaper. Climbing her way to the top, she interned for several stations and started her professional career at a paper in Lancaster. She began as a reporter for the PGA tour, eventually making her way to CBS Sports in 2017!
Michele Smith
Long before Smith was commentating as ESPN's lead softball color analyst, she was setting records and winning Olympic medals. Michele Smith is known for her left-handed pitching that saw her and the rest of Team USA win gold twice at the Olympics for softball. When Smith was younger she was involved in a car accident that should have ruined her career. However, she underwent extensive rehab for nine months and came back swinging.
Smith has been with ESPN since 1998, and in 2012, she became the first female sports commentator for a Major League Baseball game that was televised across the country.
Jenn Sterger
Model, television personality, and former online columnist for Sports Illustrated, it seems as though Jenn Sterger has done it all. She was a co-host of the Versus sports news show, "The Daily Line," and worked as the Gameday Host for the New York Jets.
Currently, she works for All Elite Wrestling as a backstage interviewer. Though she's been out of the spotlight in recent years, she is one of the most notable women in sports media in the past 20 years!
Jill Arrington
With a degree in broadcast journalism in hand, Jill Arrington graduated from the University of Miami. Shortly after graduation, she began her broadcasting career as a producer of the entertainment show called "Main Floor," a job she held for five years!
She also spent a year producing for Paramount's "Real TV." Jill married Dean Panaro, a four-time NCAA Champion diver. They have one daughter together, Presley Kate Panaro, who was born in 2004.
Shannon Spake
Most will recognize Shannon Spake for her contribution to Fox Sports, where she is in charge of all anchor duties for the"NASCAR Cup Series" - as well as "NASCAR Series" races and pre-race shows. Spake was also a college basketball and football reporter for Fox Sports.
In the past, she worked for ESPN, where she worked on SportsCenter and contributed as a sideline reporter for SEC on ESPN basketball. In 2017, Shannon got the unique experience of voicing Shanon Spokes in Pixar's "Cars 3!"