Pam Ward
Play-by-Play Commentator
Pam Ward joined ESPN in 1996 as an ESPNEWS anchor and now serves as a play-by-play commentator on women’s college basketball, college softball and the WNBA.
During her time with ESPN, Ward has hosted WNBA Shootaround, NBA Today, NBA 2Night, NHL 2Night, NFL Tonight and the Women’s College World Series Studio Show. For ESPN Radio, Ward has served as host for The NFL on ESPN Radio and major league baseball pre- and post-game shows.
On November 22, 2000, Ward became the first woman to work play-by-play on a Division I college football game when she called ESPN2’s telecast of Bowling Green at Toledo. That same year she called the Division III Championship and the Motor City Bowl for the networks. In 2001, Ward called her first full season of college football.
In July 2010, CoSIDA honored Ward as the recipient of the Jake Wade Award, which annually recognizes an individual “who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to the field of intercollegiate athletics.”
Before joining ESPN, Ward was a host at WBAL-Radio in Baltimore. Her duties included hosting WBAL’s Baltimore Ravens pregame show on Sundays. She also served as a fill-in sports anchor on WBAL-TV in Baltimore from 1995-96.
In 1996, Ward began working as a sideline reporter for ESPN2’s college football games; she also served as an analyst for select games during ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage of the 1996 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. Since 1992, she had worked women’s college basketball games on a variety of networks, including Home Team Sports (HTS).
Before working with WBAL, Ward was a host on WTEM-Radio in her native residence of Washington, D.C. from 1992-95.
Ward is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she received a bachelor’s degree in communications. In 2015, Maryland honored Ward with the Distinguished Terrapin Award, given out by the journalism department through the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism to alumni in the industry.