Robert A. Ley ( ; born March 16, 1955) is an American sports anchor and reporter, best known for his work at

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. A multiple

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winner, he was the longest-tenured on-air employee of the network, having joined ESPN just three days after the network's 1979 launch and retiring from the network effective at the end of June 2019.

Early life and education

Ley grew up in

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. History The initial patent for the land that w ...

, where he attended Bloomfield High School. He got his start in broadcasting as a sportscaster and program director at

WSOU WSOU (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial, college radio station. The station broadcasts from the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. It is a student-run station with university administrator Mark Maben serving as its curren ...

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

, and interned as a production staffer at WOR-AM in New York City. After graduating ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in Communications, Ley worked several minor broadcasting jobs, including public address announcer with the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team, before landing his first major position with ESPN just three days after the network's launch in 1979.Bob Ley signs with Octagon, octagon.com; accessed May 8, 2015.

Career

In the mid to late 1970's, Bob was Sports Director at Suburban Cablevision TV3 out of East Orange, New Jersey, where he hosted an award-winning local-oriented sports show, Time In, alongside Bruce Beck, who would move on to WNBC, Channel 4 in New York. Ley joined ESPN on September 9, 1979. In 1980, he hosted the first televised NCAA Selection Show, though the airing would switch to CBS two years later. Starting in 1990, Ley hosted ESPN's investigative program ''

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...

''. He hosted ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

'' for much of his career at ESPN, and on August 9, 2004, he hosted an "old school" edition with longtime broadcasting partner

Charley Steiner Charley Steiner (born ) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday. Early career Steiner grew up a Bro ...

. Ley was the primary studio host for ESPN's telecasts of major international professional

tournaments, including the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

, the 2012 UEFA European Championship and the 2016 UEFA European Championship. During the Night of 1000 Stars, Grantland.com's

Men in Blazers Men in Blazers is a New York City-based television show, podcast, and digital brand, founded, operated and hosted by Roger Bennett and Michael Davies covering global soccer and its reception in the United States. The two met at a wedding recept ...

, Michael Davies and Rog Bennett, presented Ley with the first Men In Blazers Golden Blazer for lifetime services to American soccer. During the presentation of the Golden Blazer, the Men in Blazers showed footage of Ley's anchoring of ''SportsCenter'' and presenting highlights of the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

qualifying for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

in Italy. It was the first time the USMNT qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 1950. On September 7, 2014, in recognition of ESPN's 35th anniversary as a cable network, he was honored as one of 19 "ESPN Originals", employees who have been with the network from the beginning. Ley took an indefinite

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

from his ESPN hosting duties starting on October 1, 2018. On June 26, 2019, Ley announced his retirement from ESPN, effective at the end of the month.

Personal life

Ley is married with two children. He serves on the board of regents for Seton Hall University.

Honors

* 1987 – Bloomfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame * 1995 –

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

Center for Study of Sport and Society and School of Journalism Excellence in Sports Journalism Award *

WSOU-FM WSOU (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial, college radio station. The station broadcasts from the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. It is a student-run station with university administrator Mark Maben serving as its curren ...

Hall of Fame Member * Eight

Sports Emmy Awards The Sports Emmy Awards, or Sports Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the Sports ...

for Sports Journalism * Three

CableACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Amer ...

s for Sports Information Series * Four

s (with Suburban Cablevision,

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

) * 2008 – Commencement speaker for the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

(

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...

) * 2013 – Golden Blazer of Fame for services to soccer in the United States *2018 – Sports Emmy for Outstanding Studio Host

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ley, Bob American television sports announcers Association football commentators 1955 births Living people Bloomfield High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Bloomfield, New Jersey Public address announcers ESPN people Seton Hall University alumni North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators College basketball announcers in the United States Major League Soccer broadcasters