Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2025

The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame is proud to announce the Class of 2025, comprised of 10 individuals whose careers have impacted the sports TV industry in profound and unique ways. They will be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the annual Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which will be held at the New York Hilton Hotel on the evening of December 16, 2025.

Ken Aagaard, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame chairman, says this year’s class — the 19^th — once again shows the wide range of excellence that collectively have lifted the sports TV industry in every way: from on-air talent to the behind-the-lens production experts and technical wizards, and to the executives who drive the business side of the sports TV landscape.

“Every sports broadcast on TV is a collective effort, with excellence required from the entire production team as well as the executives that drive the business and the leagues,” he says. “Once again, our voting pool of more than 130 industry leaders has delivered a first-rate class, and the evening of December 16 promises to be special.”

This year’s class is comprised of:

Glenn Adamo: Adamo’s 40-year career is defined by innovation and strategic leadership as he advanced technologies into live production and transformed the way audiences engage with sports. His expertise has been pivotal in major broadcasts, including four Olympic Games (Moscow, Seoul, Barcelona, and Salt Lake City), 13 Super Bowls, 12 years of Wimbledon and the French Open, premier College Bowl Games (Orange Bowl, Hall of Fame, Fiesta Bowl), NBA, NHL, Golf, NCAA Basketball and Football, Boxing, NBC SportsWorld, and PBA Bowling. After establishing his career at NBC Sports, Adamo was a Group Vice President of the NHL Broadcasting Department where he established NHL Productions and pioneered various programming and on-ice camera technology, revolutionizing in-game camera angles, and enhancing the fan presentation.  He also was VP of Broadcasting, Community Development, and Entertainment for the Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils and then VP at the National Football League (2003–2016) where he spearheaded the launch of NFL Network, Thursday Night Football, and NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone. His leadership drove the development of NFL Replay, Next Gen Stats, and NFL OTT production, modernizing the digital landscape of football coverage. Today he is Managing Director of The Switch Production Services—the creative and distribution arm of The Switch/Tata Media Production Group.

Lee Corso: Corso is one of college football’s signature voices and a member of ESPN’s nine-time Emmy-Award winning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot Saturday morning pregame show. He retired this past weekend after spending nearly four decades as one of the few bigger-than-life broadcast personalities who was seen as an authentic and fun on-air commentator. He has been a constant in ESPN’s coverage, including countless national championships and other major college football events. Corso joined ESPN in 1987 and is College GameDay’s only remaining original on-air personality (He was a contributor in 1987-88 and joined as a full-time analyst in 1989).

Curt Gowdy, Jr.: Gowdy’s illustrious sports broadcasting career spanned over 46 years, earning him accolades such as 16 National and 27 Regional Emmy Awards. During his initial 29-year tenure at ABC Sports, he held the position of Senior Coordinating Producer for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, the longest-running and most celebrated anthology show in sports broadcasting history. Gowdy’s impressive portfolio includes producing and overseeing three World Series events, including the Bay Area earthquake Series and integral roles in the production of four Summer and Winter Olympic games; Super Bowl pre, half, and post games; 14 Kentucky Derby races; and 12 Triple Crown races. Gowdy is renowned for pioneering advancements in sports broadcasting, introducing live wireless microphones and helmet cameras on jockeys during Triple Crown races. Beyond horse racing, Gowdy produced 11 World Figure Skating Championships and 18 US Figure Skating Championships, notable for comprehensive coverage of significant events such as the Nancy Kerrigan backstage assault in Detroit and the ensuing Tonya Harding saga. His extensive producing credits also encompass 16 Little League World Series, Monday Night Football halftime, college football, auto racing, bowling, and the historic 1991 Pan American Games, broadcast live from Havana, Cuba. In 2005, Gowdy embraced a new challenge by joining a group to launch the premier regional sports network, SNY, where he would serve as Senior Vice President of Production and Executive Producer for 17 years. He oversaw all production, talent, and original programming, elevating Emmy Award-winning coverage of the Mets, Jets, UConn, and Big East sports. He is credited with assembling one of the most acclaimed baseball broadcast teams in television, establishing SNY as the national standard for regional sports coverage.

Greg Gumbel: Gumbel, who passed away earlier this year, was one of the most respected personalities in the business and did it all. He was the first network broadcaster to call play-by-play and host a Super Bowl in the same year (twice); spent six years as lead play-by-play for CBS NFL coverage alongside Phil Simms; hosted The NFL Today  and CBS Sports March Madness coverage; called NBA games for both CBS and NBC; served as primetime anchor of CBS coverage of the 1994 Olympic Games and co-anchor of weekday morning broadcasts of the 1992 Games (in 1996 he hosted NBC’s daytime coverage); and for 24 consecutive seasons as studio host of CBS Sports coverage of the NCAA Men’s basketball championship. He was also the recipient of the 2007 Pat Summerall Award for excellence in sports broadcasting.

Marc Herklotz: As Technical Director, Herklotz made significant contributions to sports broadcasting, particularly at ESPN, where he pioneered key technical elements such as the network-wide replay wipe in the mid-90s, a feature that became a hallmark of ESPN’s broadcast style. He also helped establish standards for delivering animation elements to technical directors in remote production settings, shaping the execution of broadcasts across the network. His work set the foundation for many of ESPN’s technical advancements during his tenure. Herklotz’s career at ESPN spanned from 1989 to 2019, where he served as the technical director for numerous high-profile sports events. Throughout his remarkable career, he received multiple awards, including four National Emmy Awards for technical direction for events such as the 1992 America’s Cup and 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as a Regional Emmy Award in 1989. With over 30 years at ESPN/ABC, he participated in at least 2,000 events and missed only two days of work due to illness, showcasing his dedication. Herklotz’s technical mastery, longevity, and consistency made him a highly respected figure in the industry, particularly for his role in ESPN’s NFL broadcasts from 1996 to 2019.

Jerry Jones: Jones is front and center as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys but, when it comes to sports TV, his impact behind the scenes helped make the NFL a powerhouse. In 1992, some of the older owners were contemplating a give back to the networks and Jones fought hard against the plan, believing an economic upturn would get the league’s rights fees back on track. Then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue invited Jones into the contract talks with the television networks, and Jones was involved with the talks that led to Fox outbidding CBS by more than $100 million a season and the league’s television contract reached $1.1 billion. Without Jones, it is possible that the league, its relationship with TV networks, and the role it plays in the broader sports landscape would be very, very different. On the league front, Jones actively contributes his vision and enthusiasm to enhancing the NFL’s status as the world’s premier professional sports league by serving on a wide range of league committees. In his 34-year career, Jones has worked on 15 different NFL ownership committees for a combined total of 136 years. Jones is currently the Chairman of the NFL Media O&O Committee, Chairman of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee, and is a member of the NFL Media Committee.

Hiroshi Kiriyama: If you ever relied on a Sony HDCAM-SR VTR or Sony camera with 4K 3-CCD sensors or Venice, you have Kiriyama — the recently retired CTO of Sony’s Professional Division — to thank, as he played lead engineering roles in their development. Kiriyama joined Sony in 1982. He moved quickly from a mechanical engineer in the telecine division to Sony’s critical VTR segment. As the lead engineer, he developed the industry standard HDCAM-SR VTR. The success of that platform led Sony to promote Kiriyama to lead the entire broadcast and production division of the Sony Corporation. It was there that Kiriyama showed the outstanding ability to listen to the customer. While many in the industry believed that it was not possible to develop a 4K 3 chip camera that could do slow motion, Kiriyama and his team did precisely that when they launched the HDC-4300, which was a 4K 3 chip camera that could do 8 times super slow motion in HD. Kiriyama’s management prowess and dreams for better resolution led Sony to develop the HDC-4800 which could do 4K at 8 times super slow motion and the UHC-8300 a 3 chip 8K camera. Perhaps, his greatest achievement was the development of the HDC-5000 and 3000 camera series that have now become the world leaders in 4K, 1080p, 1080p HDR, and 4K HDR production. Kiriyama was also the lead advisor to the development of the Sony Venice and Venice 2 cinema cameras. Kiriyama’s influence did not stop with cameras as he was a force behind the development of Sony’s micro-LED technology and “CLED.”

David Levy: As Former President of Turner, Levy oversaw Turner’s leading portfolio of domestic entertainment, sports, kids and young adult networks and businesses, including Turner Sports, Bleacher Reporter, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, truTV, and Turner Classic Movies. He also led Turner’s two domestic revenue divisions — ad sales and distribution. During his 30-year tenure at Turner, Levy assumed executive oversight for increased investment in original premium content across the portfolio, and in 2018, Turner programming was nominated for 33 Emmy Awards. Levy’s Turner Sports accomplishments were many since assuming leadership of the division in 2003. He was instrumental in deepening and expanding Turner’s media rights and defining the division via its association with premium sports content, brands, and events, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the PGA Tour. He negotiated a variety of multi-faceted agreements, each representing a significant change extending far beyond traditional television rights. In 2010, Levy orchestrated a landmark NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball deal, partnering with CBS for multi-media rights, including exclusive televised rights to the 2014 Final Four and National Championship Game in 2016. Levy currently serves as the co-CEO and founder of Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E). HS&E has a core focus on IP creation, and monetization, strategic advisory and consulting media rights, sponsorships, sales, and experiential.

Pam Oliver: Fox Sports Senior Correspondent and NFL Reporter Oliver is celebrated as a trailblazer in the sports media landscape. She has long been recognized as one of the premier sports reporters on network television and is the longest tenured NFL sideline reporter. With widespread respect and admiration across the industry, her straightforward and candid interviewing style consistently delivers topical and substantive reports. Her reporting expertise also extended to the NBA, college, and women’s sports. Prior to Fox, she was an ESPN reporter, gaining football experience covering the NFL Playoffs and NFC Championship Games. In addition to her duties as feature reporter on “NFL Prime Monday,” Oliver covered each Monday Night Football matchup. Additional duties included NCAA Women’s and Men’s College Football and Basketball, the Little League World Series, and the NBA Finals.

Bill Rasmussen: The founder of ESPN, Rasmussen changed the nature of the relationship between television and sports. He founded the network in the summer of 1978 and by the following year he had found an investor and had the network on air. His vision also extended to programming where he created the SportsCenter brand, which is still core to the mission of ESPN. And he also changed the relationship with advertisers, getting Anheuser Busch to ink its largest cable TV advertising contract ever. While Rasmussen’s time at ESPN was relatively short lived, his vision and impact will live on forever.

This year’s class will be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame on December 16 at the New York Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan. The event will begin with a cocktail reception at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and then the ceremony beginning at approximately 7:15 p.m.

To purchase individual tickets, please CLICK HERE.

To purchase a table of 10 seats, please contact Carrie Bowden ([email protected]).

For sponsorship opportunities please contact Rob Payne ([email protected]), Andrew Gabel ([email protected]), or Jack Bluestine ([email protected]).