Background and career
Suzy Kolber (born 1963 or 1964) is an American sports journalist. She was one of the original anchors of ESPN2 when it launched in 1993. Three years later, she left ESPN2 to join Fox Sports but returned to ESPN in late 1999 until 2023.
Kolber was born and raised in a Jewish family in Dresher, Pennsylvania. She attended Upper Dublin High School, graduating in 1982. Kolber is a graduate of the University of Miami. As a student, she worked at Dynamic Cable in Coral Gables, Florida, where she was a sports director from 1984 to 1986, and was on the University of Miami water ski team.
After graduation, she worked at CBS Sports in New York City as a videotape coordinator in 1986.
Kolber produced the 5:30 p.m. sportscast at WTVJ-TV in Miami from 1985 to 1989, eventually winning a local Sports Emmy in 1988. From 1989 to 1990, she freelanced as a specials producer for WPLG-TV in Miami. In addition, she produced two magazine shows, Greyhound Racing America in Miami, Florida (1988–90) and Cowboys Special Edition in Irving, Texas (1990–91). In 1991, Kolber's freelance assignments included work as a reporter/producer for Breeders' Cup Newsfeed in Greenwich, Connecticut; a field producer for Inside Edition in New York City; a sports specials producer for WCIX-TV in Miami, and a producer/director for NFL Films. She was a weekend sports anchor and weekday feature reporter at WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida from December 1991 until she moved to ESPN in 1993.
Kolber previously covered a variety of assignments for ESPN from the National Football League to the 1996 ESPN X Games bicycle-stunt events and Grand Slam tennis events. She was a sideline reporter on ESPN’s Monday Night Football with Michele Tafoya. In 2007, she hosted ESPN’s pre-race NASCAR Countdown program. Kolber joined ESPN’s MNF team during its inaugural year in 2006 after five previous seasons on ESPN's Sunday Night Football (2001–05). As a member of the MNF team, Kolber helped the longtime franchise become the most-watched program in cable television history. Kolber worked the ABC Sports broadcast of Super Bowl XL in Detroit in 2006 with Michele Tafoya and contributed to the network’s pre-game show. She became the first female recipient of the Maxwell Club Sports Broadcaster of the Year Award in 2006 and was named to Sports Business Daily's 2004 list of the 10 favorite sports TV personalities of the past 10 years. Kolber hosted ESPN’s year-round NFL Live news and information show, and she played a role in ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the annual NFL draft, hosting the Day 2 telecast from 2004 to 2006, and leading analysis segments on Day 1. For the 1999 through 2003 NFL seasons, Kolber hosted NFL Matchup. She also previously contributed “Backstage” segments to Monday Night Countdown. During the NFL off-season, Kolber served as an anchor on SportsCenter and as an on-site and studio host for ESPN's tennis coverage at the French Open from 2004 to 2006) and Wimbledon from 2003 to 2006 and in 2009. In 1996, 2000, and 2001, she hosted the Summer X Games and Winter X Games, and co-hosted the event again in Aspen in 2006. She hosted horse racing events, including all three legs of the Triple Crown for ESPN and ESPN2 studio programs.
Kolber left ESPN for Fox Sports in November 1996, where she anchored Fox Sports News for Fox Sports Net and reported from NFL games. She was the lead reporter for the network's coverage of the NFL on Fox teaming up with the network's No. 1 announcer team of Pat Summerall and John Madden for one game in 1998. She also covered horse racing. She served as studio host for the network's coverage of the NHL on Fox, including both the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals and the Playoffs. In March 1999, Kolber co-hosted a Fox non-sports presentation with Maury Povich, Opening the Lost Tombs: Live From Egypt, an archaeological event that promised to "unveil five-thousand year old mysteries." Fox's TV cameras showed the first live excavation of Egypt's ancient Giza plateau; Kolber reported live from the tomb. She returned to ESPN in August 1999.
