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The Kansas City Royals have made a historic hire of sorts.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the organization announced that Bridget Howard would be a host and sideline reporter for the team\u2019s Royals.TV operation moving forward. That\u2019s notable not only because Howard\u2019s hire marks the first time a woman will appear consistently on Royals\u2019 broadcasts in franchise history, but she has her own history with the organization, too. The 27-year-old is the daughter of former Royals infielder David Howard, who played for Kansas City for seven seasons (1991-97) in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n
\nWe are proud to welcome Bridget Howard to our @kcroyalstv<\/a> team!<\/p>\n
A Kansas City native, Bridget will serve as host and sideline reporter, debuting tomorrow night on our https:\/\/t.co\/TQjpx7L0LJ<\/a> broadcast vs. the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n
Read more: https:\/\/t.co\/Bg9g0GyMJO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Yw1l1LieXa<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Kansas City Royals (@Royals) March 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe Royals have always been a part of my life,\u201d Howard told MLB.com\u2019s Anne Rogers<\/a>. \u201cI understand what they mean to the city. And this job has always been the North Star for me. I always knew I wanted to work in baseball, and to be able to come home and do it for my hometown team, I still don\u2019t even know if I can put it into words. It\u2019s just an incredibly full-circle moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduating from Kansas State, Howard was hired by the Mountain West Conference, where she worked as a studio host, sideline reporter, and color commentator for the better part of five years. She most recently moved to TNT Sports, where she served as a sideline reporter for college football and basketball games covering the Mountain West and Big 12. She\u2019s also done sideline reporting for Unrivaled women\u2019s basketball and play-by-play work for the National Women\u2019s Soccer League and select NCAA conference championships.<\/p>\n
Howard will bring that wealth of experience to a broadcast booth \u2014 which ranked No. 21 in Awful Announcing\u2019s local MLB announcer rankings last season<\/a> \u2014 that remains largely unchanged. She\u2019ll slot in alongside Jake Eisenberg and Ryan Lefebvre, who split play-by-play duties while Jeremy Guthrie \u2014 a former pitcher who spent five seasons with the Royals from 2012-16 \u2014 and Rex Hudler serve as analysts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope what shows up is energy, preparation, and storytelling,\u201d Howard told MLB.com. \u201cMy goal is always to enhance the broadcast, not interrupt it \u2014 that\u2019s how I\u2019ve always tried to conduct myself on the sideline. And this isn\u2019t just a job to me. I love Kansas City, I grew up in this city, and it\u2019s such a massive responsibility to me to do well and to represent this organization well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Royals are overhauling their local broadcast setup this season after joining MLB\u2019s media arm. Kansas City was one of nine teams that terminated its contract with FanDuel Sports Network<\/a> in January to move under the league\u2019s control<\/a>, with MLB taking over production and distribution responsibilities for their local games. The Royals were one of those teams making the transition, and will do so with Howard now on board.<\/p>\n
She\u2019ll make her debut Thursday when the Royals broadcast their spring training game against the Rangers.<\/p>\n
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