Tommy Sanders (born April 20, 1954) is an American sportscaster and host of ''ESPN Outdoors'', the

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 ...

network's four-hour block of outdoors programming that airs nationally every Saturday morning.

Biography

Sanders debuted on

when ''ESPN Outdoors'' was launched in January 1990. He introduces each program and the short features which are aired between the shows. These features often have an environmental and/or educational theme. He serves in a similar role on

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 Sunday morning outdoors programming block. Sanders also hosts the

Stihl Timbersports Series The Stihl Timbersports Series is a series of woodsman or wood chopping competitions where the athletes compete in the use of axes and saws in manners typical for lumberjacks. It was founded in 1985, and currently includes six different disciplines, ...

(since 1990), the FLW Tournament series (since 1996) and the Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament series, all airing on the ESPN family of TV networks. In addition, he co-hosts Saltwater TV, a weekly webcast at ESPNOutdoors.com. Other programs featuring Sanders include ''The Bassmasters'' (co-hosted with Mark Zona, airing weekly on ESPN2) and ''Hooked Up'' (a webcast seen at bassmasters.com.) A native of

Magnolia, Arkansas Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 11,577. The city is the county seat of Columbia County. Magnolia is home to the World's Largest Charcoal Grill and the World Championship S ...

, Sanders graduated in 1976 from

Hendrix College Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Approximately 1,000 students are enrolled, mostly undergraduates. While affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the college offers a secular curriculum and has a stude ...

Conway, Arkansas Conway is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Faulkner County, located in the state's most populous Metropolitan Statistical Area, Central Arkansas. Although considered a suburb of Little Rock, Conway is unusual in that ...

, earning a bachelor of arts degree in English and theater. While at Hendrix he helped launch the campus radio station, KHDX, in 1973. He attended graduate school at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

from 1980 to 1981, studying film and television. Sanders began his career in television as a writer and producer for Arkansas Educational Television from 1979–1980, and worked for seven years (1980–1987) as a freelance writer and on-air host of industrial and educational films. From 1987-1992, Sanders was a partner in The Works, a recording studio in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Sanders' future status with ESPN remains unclear following the network's 3 August 2010 announcement that it plans to sell B.A.S.S. LLC, which runs the Bassmasters Fishing series, to a group of investors led by Don Logan, Jerry McKinnis and Jim Copeland. McKinnis is also a sportscaster and a colleague of Sanders who hosted ''The Fishin' Hole'' on ESPN from 1980 to 2007.

Awards and honors

Sanders was inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame on 11 September 2009. ESPN2's 2008 and 2009 Bassmaster Classic television coverage, co-hosted by Sanders and Zona, was nominated for Sports Emmy Awards in both 2009 and 2010 for the Outstanding Live Event Turnaround category.fishingworld.com
''Classic TV show in line for award'', 3/23/2010, accessed 9/6/2010.

Personal life

Sanders, who is married, lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a recipient of an Outstanding Volunteer Award presented by the Arkansas Public Broadcasting Service in 1988. He also has served on the board of directors in the Quapaw Council of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

since 1991 and is active with

United Cerebral Palsy United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) is an international nonprofit charitable organization consisting of a network of affiliates. UCP is a leading service provider and advocate for adults and children with disabilities. As one of the largest health nonpro ...

Biography

Awards and honors

Personal life

References

See also