Lynx hire first female play-by-play broadcaster in Twin Cities pro sports history

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - History was made Wednesday as the Minnesota Lynx hired the first woman radio play-by-play broadcaster for a professional sports team in the Twin Cities.

When John Focke, who previously held the position, was hired as the new radio voice in Charlotte, the door opened for Sloane Martin to fulfil her dream.

It is a position for which she is well suited as it combines her two main passions: women’s basketball and play-by-play.

Her resume runs deep. She was a radio broadcaster for the University of Buffalo women’s basketball team, play-by-play person for the Prep Bowl and, earlier this year, the first woman to do play-by-play for the boy’s State Hockey Tournament.

Martin said, even before she moved to Minnesota, she knew of the commitment the Lynx made to women’s sports and that they got it.

They are the only team in the WNBA with a home and road radio broadcast and she is doing both as well as both play-by-play and color commentary.