Bob Ley Named 2025 Colin Jose Media Award Winner
Legendary ESPN Broadcaster Elevated Soccer Coverage on American TV for 40 Years
FRISCO, Texas (March 12, 2025) – Bob Ley has been named the recipient of the 2025 Colin Jose Media Award, which honors journalists whose careers have made significant long-term contributions to soccer in the United States.
The face of ESPN’s soccer coverage for decades, Ley will be honored May 3 at the National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Frisco, Texas. The ceremony also will feature the induction of the Hall of Fame’s 2025 Class: Mark Abbott, Chris Armas, Mary Harvey, Carli Lloyd and Nick Rimando.
Ley was one of ESPN’s original broadcasters when the network launched in 1979, and he played a role in covering 10 men’s and women’s World Cups between 1982 and 2015. He was ESPN’s primary studio host for the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany and the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups in South Africa and Brazil. Throughout his 40-year career at ESPN, Ley consistently covered the rise of soccer in America, including the growth of Major League Soccer and the performances of the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams on the global stage.
“I had the great privilege to work with Bob on many soccer matches and tournaments, both domestically and around the globe,” said Amy Rosenfeld, a longtime producer and TV executive who received the 2024 Colin Jose Media Award. “Among the many career-changing experiences for me was the unmatched credibility he gave to the coverage of soccer. When Bob spoke, the audience listened.
“I am convinced that soccer viewership in our country expanded because Bob drew people in that may not have understood nor appreciated the sport — but because Bob was on their screen, they became fans.”
One of sports journalism’s most respected and authoritative voices, Ley tackled complex and sometimes controversial subjects as the host of Outside the Lines. He won 11 Sports Emmys and helped the network win two Peabody Awards. Ley and OTL also won the DuPont Award and four Edward R. Murrow Awards. He was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Colin Jose Media Award was created to honor the contributions of members of the print and electronic media, including reporters, columnists, authors, broadcasters, editors, public/media relations professionals and others who specialize in communications with respect to soccer in the United States. The award is named for Colin Jose, the preeminent soccer historian of North America who was the Hall of Fame’s historian from 1997 to 2007.
COLIN JOSE MEDIA AWARD RECIPIENTS
2025 — Bob Ley, ESPN
2024 — Amy Rosenfeld, ESPN, NBC Sports and other television broadcasters
2023 — Grant Wahl, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, Fùtbol with Grant Wahl
2020 — Andrés Cantor, Telemundo Deportes and other television broadcasters
2019 — Tony Quinn, Photojournalist
2018 — JP Dellacamera, FOX and other television broadcasters
2017 — Jim Trecker, Media Relations
2016 — Paul Kennedy, Soccer America
2013 — George Vecsey, New York Times
2012 — Grahame Jones, Los Angeles Times
2010 — Paul Gardner, Soccer America
2009 — Alex Yannis, New York Times
2008 — Ike Kuhns, Newark Star-Ledger
2007 — George Tiedemann, Sports Illustrated/Freelance Photography
2005 — Seamus Malin, ESPN and other television broadcasters
2004 — Jerry Trecker, Hartford Courant