Gayle Gardner facts for kids
Gayle Gardner is an American sportscaster. She worked for major sports networks like ESPN and NBC Sports. She started in 1987 and worked until 1993. Gayle is known as a pioneer in sports broadcasting. She was the first woman to regularly host sports news on a big TV network.
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Career Highlights
Early Career and Education
Gayle Gardner went to Brooklyn College and graduated in 1969. She then earned a master's degree from Boston University in 1971.
She started her career in Boston as Gail Granik. She interned at WBZ-TV. After college, she became an associate producer for a show there. By 1974, she was the executive producer. She also worked as a producer for a show at WCBS-TV.
In 1976, she returned to WBZ. She was an executive producer and interviewer for the New England Patriots pregame show. In 1977, she started appearing on WBZ's news. She was a sports anchor.
Breaking Barriers in Sports News
In 1978, Gayle became the nightly sports anchor for WDIV-TV in Detroit. At that time, she was the only woman to be a daily sports anchor in a top-10 TV market. She then worked as a reporter and weekend sports anchor for WJZ-TV in Baltimore.
National Network Success
Gayle Gardner joined ESPN in 1983. She was a SportsCenter anchor for three years. Then, she moved to NBC in 1987 and stayed until 1993.
At NBC, she had many important jobs. She anchored college football bowl game coverage on New Year's Day. She also worked on NFL Live! and Major League Baseball: An Inside Look. Gayle also covered the NBC's 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics events. She reported on the French Open and Wimbledon tennis tournaments.
In 1989, she made history again. She became the first woman to regularly host Major League Baseball games for a major television network, NBC.
Super Bowl and Play-by-Play
In January 1989, Gayle Gardner was part of the NBC broadcast team for Super Bowl XXIII. This game featured the San Francisco 49ers against the Cincinnati Bengals.
On August 3, 1993, Gayle became the first woman to do televised play-by-play for a baseball game. She called the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds.
Later Work and Return
After her time in sports, Gardner worked for the Food Network for three years. She later wrote a screenplay.
In 2004, SportsCenter celebrated its 25th anniversary. Gayle Gardner returned to anchor a special "old school" edition of the show. She hosted it alongside Stuart Scott.
See also
- Women in baseball
