Robert Flores (born July 7, 1970) is a sports journalist, who works for

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...

and NHL Network as a studio host for each. He fills in for Hot Stove on MLB Network. Flores formerly worked 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 ...

. Joining the network in 2005, Flores was an anchor for

ESPNEWS ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...

and for ESPN's ''

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 ...

'' (2007–2016). Flores provided studio updates during each game of

ABC College Football ''ESPN College Football on ABC'' is the branding used for broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football games that are produced by ESPN, and televised on ABC in the Unit ...

, and

Saturday Night Football ''ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC'' (branded for sponsorship purposes as ''ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC presented by Capital One'') is an American weekly presentation of prime time broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

. He also served as a substitute studio host for

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

's ''

Friday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Box ...

''. Flores hosted the live afternoon edition of ''SportsCenter'' from noon - 3 p.m. with

Chris McKendry Chris McKendry (born Christine McKendry February 18, 1968) is a journalist for ESPN, a role she has served since 1996. She was co-anchor of the 11-1pm ET weekday block of live ESPN '' SportsCenter'' shows, alongside Jay Crawford. As of April 1, 20 ...

until early September 2009, when he was replaced with

John Buccigross John Buccigross (; born January 27, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He has been an anchor for ESPN since 1996.

. He was also a substitute host for

Baseball Tonight ''Baseball Tonight'' (stylized as ''Baseball Tonight presented by Chevrolet'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American television program that airs on ESPN. The show, which covers the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since ...

. Flores announced on February 4, 2016 that he would be leaving ESPN after ten years. Flores is a native of

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. He attended

J. Frank Dobie High School J. Frank Dobie High School is a public secondary school located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1968, it is named after the Texas writer of the same name. It houses grades 10-12. A Ninth Grade Center was opened recently to help with the influx of ...

in Houston and is in the JFD Hall of Fame. He graduated from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

with a B.A. in Radio/Television in 1992. A noted fan of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, Flores is also the proud owner of a prized

Louisville Slugger Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

model bat, autographed by Flair himself.

Notable incidents

In 2006, Flores was co-anchoring

with

Danyelle Sargent Danyelle Sargent-Musselman (born May 7, 1978) is a former American sports television reporter. Biography Education and early career Sargent is a graduate of Florida State University and began her television career at WGXA, in Macon, Georgia. P ...

when she made her now infamous statement "What the fuck was that," due to technical difficulties. Flores was once fired for muttering the same curse word on-air in 2004 when he worked for KEYE in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

on a taped segment that was not intended for air.
/ref> In March 2015 he made a comment on SportsCenter that

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...

is "killing hip-hop" leading to numerous verbal jabs between him and Azalea's then boyfriend

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

shooting guard Nick Young.

References

External links

MLB Network BioRobert Flores ESPN Bio
1970 births Living people University of Houston alumni Boxing commentators Major League Baseball broadcasters MLB Network personalities College football announcers American television sports anchors {{US-tv-bio-stub