Gayle Gardner

Gayle Gardner (born ca. 1950) is an American sportscaster who worked for ESPN and NBC Sports beginning in 1987 until 1993. Gardner is considered a pioneer in sports broadcasting, having been the first female sports anchor to appear weekly on a major network.[1][2]

Career

After being hired by ESPN in 1983, Gardner served as a SportsCenter anchor for three years. Gardner then worked for NBC from 1987-1993. Among the assignments that she undertook included anchoring NBC's New Year's Day college football bowl game coverage, NFL Live!, Major League Baseball: An Inside Look, NBC's 1988[3] and 1992 Summer Olympics[4] coverage, the French Open, Wimbledon, and NBC's "Prudential Sports Updates".

In January, 1989, Gardner was a member of the NBC broadcast team for Super Bowl XXIII (San Francisco vs. Cincinnati).

On August 3, 1993, Gardner became the first woman to do televised play-by-play of a baseball game when she called the action of a game between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds.[5]

Gardner later worked on the Food Network before writing a screenplay. She spent three years on the Food Network.[6]

In 2004 (to celebrate the 25th anniversary of SportsCenter), Gardner returned to anchor a special "old school" edition of SportsCenter alongside Stuart Scott.

References
  1. Sports Illustrated, "London calling - What England lacks in TV programs, it makes up for in salacious tabloids", by Richard Deitsch, August 6, 2004, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  2. American Sportscasters Online, "Women in Sportscasting: A Brief History", by Lou Schwartz, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  3. The New York Times, "SPORTS PEOPLE; Gardner to Shift", October 06, 1987, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  4. The Washington Post, "The Olympiad Covering the Best At Barcelona", by Patricia Brennan, July 26, 1992, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  5. American Sportscasters Online Archived 2013-05-05 at WebCite, "Sportscasting Firsts - 1920-Present, by Lou Schwartz, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  6. USA Today, "Disney-owned networks pass on early talks with NFL", by Rudy Martzke, August 10, 2004, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
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