February 5, 2010
By Robyn Gordon

According to Louis O. Schwartz, President of the American Sportscaster Association, women have come a long way “from just another ‘Barbie-on-the-air’ image to complement the sportscasting done by men, to today’s qualified and respected professional hired for her skills and knowledge.” While Sports Illustrated estimated in 1991 that fewer than 50 women were working as sportscasters at the 630 serious network affiliates around the country, Fox Sports News Producer Bob Steinfeld asserts that the past ten years have seen growth in the number of women in sports broadcasting by about 50%, with such well-known broadcasters as Lesley Vissey, Robin Roberts, and Andrea Kremer. While male sportscasters still outnumber female sports broadcasters, women are participating more and more in sports, both at the collegiate and professional level, and women comprise a growing percentage of sports audiences. As a result, opportunities for both female ex-athletes and female broadcasters to enter into the field continues to rise.

ane Chastain, Donna De Varona, and Jeannie Morris are considered the pioneers in female sports broadcasting (though in the 1930s and 40s,the wife of Harry Johnson, sports announcer for Central Sates Broadcasting in Omaha, Nebraska, would often provide her own commentary alongside her husband), each working for major news networks in the 1960s and 70s. Chastain became the first woman to work as a commentator for a major network (CBS) and is also considered the first woman to do sports play-by-play. Morris, an established journalist and writer prior to launching her sports reporting career, was recognized for covering the NFL Minnesota Vikings v. Chicago Bears game in the early 1970s outside in a blizzard, as she was not allowed to work in the press box because she was a woman. Later, while women were finally allowed to report from inside press boxes, often stadiums and sports arenas did not provide restroom facilities for female reporters, who were expected to use bathrooms designated for spectators.

Today, unfortunately, while the number of female sportscasters is on the rise, Karen Kornacki, sportscaster for KMBC-TV News in Kansas City, reveals that appearance still plays quite a role in such an image-driven business and culture as the sports world: “Looks are definitely starting to play a larger role,” Kornacki said. “The number one email I receive from my viewers are comments about my appearance. People are not concerned about my interviews or my knowledge of the game.” Still, she remans optimistic, arguing that “the challenge is to stick by your professionalism,” said Kornacki. “It is still a medium where you have to communicate. Our audience is sports savvy and they would be able to see right through you if you didn’t know your stuff.” Lesley Visser, the first female NFL analyst on TV and voted the number one female sportscaster in the US by the American Sportscasters Association, agrees, indicating that “The three most important things for a sportscaster are knowledge of the game, a passion for sports, and the profession, and the stamina to struggle.” So while female sports journalism is still considered young and novel to many sports fans and among sports commentators, female sportscasters are determined and will continue to convince the world that gender should not and does not affect an individual’s ability to report a story, regardless of its content, and report it well.