Lisa Salters | |
|---|---|
 Salters in November 2009 | |
| Born | Alisia Salters (1966-03-06)March 6, 1966 (age 59) |
| Education | Pennsylvania State University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Sportscaster,Sports anchor |
| Notable credit(s) | E:60,Monday Night Football,NBA on ABC,Outside the Lines,World News Tonight,Good Morning America |
| Children | 1 |
Alisia "Lisa"Salters (born March 6, 1966)[1][2] is an Americanjournalist and formercollege basketball player. She has been a reporter forESPN andABC since 2000. Salters previously covered theO. J. Simpson murder case forABC and worked as a reporter atWBAL-TV inBaltimore from 1988 to 1995.[3]
Salters has reported worldwide for ESPN, including a series of reports from theMiddle East prior to theIraq War. She has also hosted ESPN's coverage of the2006 Winter Olympics fromTurin, Italy, and ESPN's coverage of the2002 FIFA World Cup. Salters is a sideline reporter and co-producer forABC's coverage of the NBA and ESPN'sMonday Night Football.
Salters was born inKing of Prussia, Pennsylvania.[2] She attended and graduated fromUpper Merion Area High School and was later inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.[citation needed]
She then graduated fromPenn State University in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. She playedguard for theLady Lions basketball team from 1986 to 1987, where Salters holds the distinction of being the shortest player in school history at 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m).[4]
Salters was first a broadcast journalist prior to becoming a sportscaster. In 1995, she was named the first West Coast correspondent for the ABC affiliate news service, NewsOne. Among many notable stories, Salters covered the O.J. Simpson civil and criminal trials, the Oklahoma City bombing trials, the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and the crash of TWA flight 800 for the network. It was not until ESPN reached out in 2000 about a general assignment position that she decided to transition to sports journalism.[5]
Salters joined ESPN as a general assignment reporter in March 2000. She serves as sideline reporter and co-producer forMonday Night Football and the lead sideline reporter for ESPN's coverage of the NBA on ABC. Salters is also one of the featured correspondents on ESPN's newsmagazine show,E:60, which debuted October 2007.[6] In 2008, she was nominated for aSports Emmy Award[7] for the story "Ray Of Hope".[8]
At ESPN, Salters' reports have been regularly featured on the award-winning "Outside the Lines" series. She led the network's comprehensive coverage of the murder conspiracy trial ofCarolina Panthers wide receiverRae Carruth in December 2000 through January 2001. Salters was also ESPN's reporter at the2002 FIFA World Cup inSouth Korea andJapan, where she broke the news on the U.S. National Team's starting lineup a day before its first match in againstPortugal. Salters reported from the2004 Olympic Games inAthens, Greece and hosted ESPN's coverage of the2006 Winter Olympics Games inTorino, Italy.
In2006, Salters served as the lead sideline reporter for ABC's coverage of theNBA on ABC and worked the2006 NBA Finals on television as that season she filled in forMichele Tafoya who was onmaternity leave. Salters returned to her role as its secondary sideline reporter the following year as Tafoya returned to her old role. In2007, Salters worked the2007 NBA Finals on radio. In2009, she was back to being its lead sideline reporter wheneverDoris Burke was not there.
During the build-up toOperation Iraqi Freedom through the commencement of theIraq War, Salters covered sports-related stories in and aroundU.S. Central Command inQatar forOutside the Lines,SportsCenter andESPNEWS.[9] She returned to the war zone in 2004 when ESPN tookSportsCenter on the road and broadcast live fromCamp Arifjan, a U.S. Army base inKuwait.
On December 1, 2007, Salters was covering theBig 12 Championship Game at theAlamodome inSan Antonio,Texas. During one of her sideline reports during the first half, Salters mentionedMissouri quarterbackChase Daniel's frustration due to Missouri being stymied by theOklahoma defense, saying Daniel was "upset" and "fuming." However, a technical blunder caused Salters' microphone to be broadcast over the stadium's PA system. The camera shifted to Chase Daniel, who was visibly perplexed and curious as to who was talking about him and why it was being heard throughout the entire stadium.ABC TV announcerBrent Musburger then mused, "Lisa was talking to a lot more folks than she anticipated." The likely explanation was that Salters' mic was to have been hooked up to the PA for the upcoming halftime contest, and her microphone was inadvertently left on the PA after a pregame sound check.[citation needed]
Prior to joining ESPN, Salters served as aLos Angeles-based correspondent for ABC News from 1995 to 2000 and provided news coverage forWorld News Tonight withPeter Jennings and other ABC News broadcasts. At ABC News, she covered theOklahoma City bombing trials, theMatthew Shepard murder, the crash ofTWA Flight 800, and both the civil and criminal O. J. Simpson trials.
In 2012, ESPN announced that Salters would joinMonday Night Football, replacingSuzy Kolber as a full-time solo sideline reporter, joiningMike Tirico andJon Gruden. Six years later, ESPN announced a newMonday Night Football commentating team which included Salters as sideline reporter and joined byJoe Tessitore andBooger McFarland. In 2020,Steve Levy,Brian Griese, andLouis Riddick replaced Tessitore and McFarland to join Salters on MNF. In 2022,Joe Buck andTroy Aikman came from Fox Sports to be on MNF with Salters.
Salters is a cousin of formerUniversity of Pittsburgh andDallas Cowboys running back,Tony Dorsett.[citation needed]
In 2013, Salters adopted a son after years of trying to have a child on her own.[10]
Salters resides inNashville, Tennessee with her partner,Stephanie White, White's three sons, and her son.[11]
On October 13, 2017, Salters was inducted into the Montgomery County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.[12]
