ESPN’s Chris Berman has signed a multi-year deal to remain with the network hosting NFL PrimeTime on ESPN+ and contributing to countless projects and features across ESPN’s various platforms.
Photo via ESPN Images
What’s Happening:
- ESPN has announced that sports commentator Chris Berman has signed a new multi-year agreement with ESPN today, on the occasion of Berman’s 66th birthday.
- Berman, who joined ESPN a month after its September 7, 1979 launch, will continue to bring his uniquely energetic and passionate style to various high-profile assignments.
- Among the continuing roles for Berman will be hosting NFL PrimeTime on ESPN+, as well as hosting NFL PrimeTime on ESPN after the Super Bowl and NFL Conference Championship games.
- He will also continue to contribute commentary, features, interviews and perspective across ESPN shows and platforms, including SportsCenter and beyond.
What They’re Saying:
- Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president and executive editor: “Quite simply, Chris Berman has personified ESPN’s success for more than four decades. Fans respond to his authentic love of sports, his ability to savor and capture the big moments, and his on-air style that reminds us how live games can truly be equal parts essential and fun. We are delighted Boomer’s magical ride at ESPN will continue for years to come.”
- Chris Berman: “Working at ESPN has been nothing short of a fairytale for me. We all love sports and the excitement they bring us on a daily basis. I’m thrilled to be able to continue this journey and share it with so many talented folks ‘in the building,’ and best of all, countless viewers who share the very same passion. I’d like to say it’s put me over the moon, but I’d better bring it up to date. It’s put me over Mars.”
About Chris Berman:
- Berman has been at ESPN since October 1979 where he served as sportscaster and became one of the industry’s most popular voices during his more than 41-year career at the company.
- Throughout his career he’s earned several awards and recognition including:
- Six-time National Sportscaster of the Year
- First sportscaster to receive the Newseum Institute’s Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in Media in Washington, D.C.
- Inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in Salisbury, N.C.
- Fifth on-air personality to be inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame
- 2010 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award
- Berman began his career as a disc jockey at WERI in Westerly, RI, hosting a news-oriented talk show and covering high school football and basketball games.
- His first television exposure came in 1979 when he joined WVIT-TV, an NBC affiliate in Hartford, Conn., as a weekend sports anchor.