The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information teamIn the live-sports-video industry, the future is bright. Our series SVG Students To Watch highlights the next generation of live-sports-production professionals. Across campuses nationwide, students are playing a pivotal role in bringing their schools' games to fans - from running cameras and graphics to sitting in the producer's or director's chair and everything in between. This series shines a light on the young talent making an impact today and preparing to shape the future of sports-video production.
Kyle Maier
College: St. Bonaventure University
Academic Year: Senior
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Roles: On-air, Sports Department Director
What drew you to live sports production, and how did you get started?
I live in Western New York, and the Buffalo Bills are legitimately a staple of life around here. I also come from a diehard Boston Celtics family, thanks to my grandpa. So, growing up, I was watching either the Celtics during the week or the Bills on Sunday. Throughout all the iconic games I've witnessed over the years, hearing the broadcasters serve as the stewards of storytelling for such cinematic moments stuck with me.
As I got older, my interest in both sports and storytelling grew, so pursuing sports media seemed like a perfect fit, and St. Bonaventure University, because of its tight-knit community and diverse student-media opportunities, seemed like the perfect place to do it. In the fall of 2024, I called my first game ever for WBSU The Buzz, Bonaventure's student radio station, and, not even a month later, a colleague recommended me to Rick Karnath, St. Bonaventure Athletics director of broadcasting. I joined the university's rotation of talented ESPN broadcasters shortly after.
Kyle Maier appears on camera in both play-by-play and analyst roles for St. Bonaventure University athletics broadcasts on ESPN .Are there any aha moments when you realized you loved a particular role?
Calling play-by-play clicked for me during a St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse game I commentated on in the spring of 2025. The Bonnies overcame an 8-2 deficit and scored a game-winning goal to pull off a 10-9 victory against High Point on Senior Day.
For the first time in my young broadcasting career, I was less conservative in the way I described the action but, instead, let the pure emotion and excitement of the players and fans fuel my analysis throughout the game. For many seniors, it was the last game of their lacrosse careers; they were giving it their absolute all, and I wanted to capture that in my narration. That environment led to one of my most energetic and vibrant calls to date, and it taught me to feed off the humanity inherent in sports.
What has been your favorite project or game that you've worked on, and why?
Making my analyst debut on cable television was an unforgettable experience. On Nov. 22, 2025, I provided color commentary for the St. Bonaventure women's basketball matchup against UAlbany alongside Buffalo Broadcasters Association Hall of Famer Howard Simon. The game was simulcast on ESPN and YES Network, the exclusive regional home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, marking my first appearance on linear television. It felt surreal knowing that hundreds of thousands of people browsing through their channels could tune in and hear my commentary at any given moment.
Maier (right) calls play-by-play for a St. Bonaventure women's soccer game last fall.What's the most challenging aspect of working in live sports production as a student?
The most challenging aspect is learning to adapt on the fly when a mistake is made. At St. Bonaventure, our crews are all student-run, aside from our director, so each of us inevitably makes mistakes. When you're first learning the ropes of live production, one of the most difficult things to face early on is solving a problem under fast-paced, high-pressure circumstances. Sometimes a slip-up can feel like the end of the world when you're running a live broadcast that thousands of people are watching. What I've learned is that these mistakes are part of the process; almost no broadcast of anything is ever completely flawless, so the key to an effective production is minimizing how long an error goes uncorrected.
What are your career aspirations after graduation?
I'm looking to pursue a career in collegiate athletic communications, marketing, or digital content after I graduate this May. I enjoy the process of publicizing the culture, values, and achievements of a collegiate program and its student-athletes through storytelling, and I cannot wait to be given the opportunity to do that at a high level full-time.
What advice would you give to your freshman self?
I didn't get involved much in all the student-media opportunities St. Bonaventure offers until I was a sophomore, when I joined the student newspaper, The Bona Venture. And I didn't get in front of a camera until I was a junior.
One of the highlights of Maier's time at St. Bonaventure was when he broadcast a game alongside Buffalo sports-radio legend Howard Simon that was simulcast on both ESPN and YES Network.My comfort level held me back; I was afraid to push past what was comfortable for me. When I first stepped on campus as an 18-year-old, being on camera simply felt intimidating. However, after building up my confidence and finally developing the courage to try out broadcasting, it opened more doors for me than I could've ever imagined. I called my first game on ESPN in December of 2024. Now, a little over a year later, I've called close to 20 games.
All that said, I would say fight through that anxiety, fight through that self-doubt - that fear of th
