The Most Influential Women in Sports Broadcasting History
Recent statistics show that 21 percent of sports journalists in the United States are female. Therefore, the campaign for increased female representation in sports journalism holds the same importance in contemporary times as it did in the 1970s when activists first emerged. Numerous figures made their mark following the initial efforts and continue to inspire the present generation of female sports broadcasters.
Phyllis George was a past winner of the Miss America pageant and a former first lady of Kentucky. She was also one of the first women to anchor an on-air production in United States sports broadcasting. Phyllis George began her sports journalism career with CBS in 1974 before taking up a groundbreaking role at The NFL Today in 1975. After her successful stint on the NFL Today, she moved on to CBS Morning News in 1985. Notwithstanding, her appointment marked the initial efforts by television networks toward female representation.
Mary Carillo, a former professional tennis player, earned a distinction as one of the pioneer female sports broadcasters with prior sporting experience. She began her career with a seven-year stint at the USA Network as a tennis tournament analyst. Mary Carillo equally worked with PBS and ESPN but gained more recognition with NBC Sports, where she aided US Open coverage for nearly three decades and provided Olympics coverage. She is a two-time winner of the Women Tennis Association’s Broadcaster of the Year award and the Peabody award. She also received Best Commentator honors from Tennis Magazine.
Hannah Storm is another influential television sports journalist and anchor. An alum of Notre Dame University, Hannah Storm’s rise to prominence began with her sports anchor role with the prominent CNN program Sports Tonight in 1989. Following this three-year period, she proceeded to NBC where she reported on numerous sporting events, notably the Olympic Games, the NFL, and the WNBA. Hannah Storm was the first female anchor of Sports Tonight, the first female solo host of the MLB pre-game show, and the WNBA’s first play-by-play announcer. With fellow television sports journalist Andrea Kremer, Hannah Storm is part of the pioneer female NFL commentary team on Amazon. For fourteen years, Hannah Storm has co-anchored ESPN’s SportsCenter program.
Lesley Visser, a groundbreaking sports commentator, began her sports broadcasting journey in earnest when she joined CBS in 1984 as a part-time sideline reporter. She was the first woman serve in this role and the pioneer female NFL color commentator. Most notably, Lesley Visser is the only sports journalist to be involved with the broadcasts of the Final Four, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the US Open, and Monday Night Football. In 2006, she received the Pete Rozelle Award for her contributions to sports broadcasting.
Robin Roberts, another renowned sports broadcaster, started as a weekend sports anchor and reporter in 1983 for WDAM-TV, a Mississippi-based channel. Subsequently, she proceeded to ESPN in 1990 as a SportsCenter anchor at age 29. She was also involved in the production of NFL Primetime. While she eventually pivoted to general news reporting with ABC’s Good Morning America in 2005, Robin Roberts earned acclaim for her work in sports broadcasting. Her notable honors include the Excellence in Sports Journalism and Women at Work awards.
