On Monday, March 11, Pizza with the Pros welcomed CBS sports play-by-play broadcaster Chris Lewis.

Lewis started his broadcasting career at a young age, announcing play-by-play for his high school baseball and basketball teams, and was also the PA announcer for basketball.

When it was time to pick a college, Lewis chose to attend Syracuse University, one of the top schools for sports broadcasting. There, he was the play-by-play announcer for the Bourne Braves, Camden Riversharks, and Syracuse Women’s Basketball and Lacrosse. He was also a broadcaster for the Global Basketball Summer League in Las Vegas.

One thing about Lewis is that he never turned down an opportunity. He is also looking to explore different paths within the sports industry. He spent his entire college career working for WJPZ Radio, managing the station’s social media platforms, hosting the morning sports talk show, and being a studio host. 

He also spent his four years at Syracuse working for CitrusTV, holding positions such as the sports anchor for the weekly news show and an analyst, executive producer, and studio host for the university’s pregame show. He held similar positions for WAER as the studio host and producer for the networks pregame, halftime, and postgame show, while also being the sports update anchor and radio feature reporter.

After graduating from Syracuse, Lewis spent the summer broadcasting and producing online content for the Global Basketball Summer League in Las Vegas. He also immediately landed a job with Idaho Falls Chukars Professional Baseball, providing radio play-by-play for the team’s 76-game season and managing their social media. 

Once the fall came around, all of Lewis’s hard work would pay off, as he got the opportunity to be a play-by-play broadcaster for Boise State, covering every women’s basketball game and occasionally filling in for the university’s football and basketball teams.

Lewis excelled with the team in his first year, so much so that he was offered to host the Idaho Sports Talk Show and Bronco Game night for KTIK Boise, while also receiving a role with the Mountain West Network, doing both video and radio play-by-play for Boise State Olympic sports and basketball in the Mountain West Tournament, also hosting the Boise State Women’s Basketball Preview Show with the network.

After almost six years, Lewis decided to move on from KTIK Boise but kept his role with the Mountain West Network and Boise State Athletics after receiving his dream opportunity. CBS Sports offered him a spot as the play-by-play announcer for NFL, college football, basketball, and additional sports events.

Within the following two years, Lewis received two more huge offers; play-by-play for NBC Sports Olympic coverage of table tennis, college football, and basketball, along with being the fill-in host for SportsCenter All-Night and national update anchor on ESPN Radio.

Lewis credits his relationships as one of the main reasons he’s been so successful in his career.

“My closest friends in the industry are the people who I went to school with. They challenged me and we put in the long hours together. You want to maintain those relationships. They could be the reason why you land a job over someone else. It’s all about who you know,” said Lewis.

Today, Lewis works for Mountain West Network, Boise State Athletics, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and ESPN. He also does play-by-play for basketball on Westwood One and NBA Summer League NBATV, is a sports talk radio host on SiriusXM, and sidelines for Sports USA Media and Gameday Radio College Football.

Lewis comes as an inspiration to many students in the room, showing what it takes to be successful in this industry and that you will face adversity.

“There will be challenges, difficulties, disappointments, and jobs that you didn’t get, but if you can just enjoy when you’re on the air, enjoy yourself at the game, or whatever you do in this industry, you can find the fun in it,” Lewis said.

Lewis ended the event by telling students that landing a job is the easy part, being a great colleague and keeping the job is the hard part.

“Be somebody that other people want to work with. There are a lot of people who are talented broadcasters but have lost positions because people around them think they’re difficult to work with. Be someone who other people want to be invested in,” said Lewis.

Due to spring recess, Pizza with the Pros will not be hosting an event next Monday but will resume the following week on Monday, March 24.

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