Bio
Bonnie Bernstein is recognized by the American Sportscasters Association as one of the most accomplished female journalists in her field. She has hosted a variety of TV shows for ESPN, including NFL Live, Outside the Lines, Jim Rome is Burning and First Take, and this past season, as the anchor of New York Football Live on ESPN Radio in New York, was one of the few women in America hosting a daily NFL radio show. Bernstein is a contributor for espnW and has worked the sidelines for ABC’s college football package and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Outside of her ESPN work, Bernstein is the only woman in the guest-hosting rotation for the nationally syndicated TV & radio program, The Dan Patrick Show.
Prior to her second run at “The Worldwide Leader in Sports,” Bernstein spent eight years at CBS, where she was the Lead Reporter for the NFL and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships. She contributed features for The NFL Today; hosted the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships as well as the Network’s Emmy-nominated anthology series, Championships of the NCAA; and anchored CBS’ studio shows, SportsDesk and At the Half. Track and field, figure skating, and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships rounded out her assignments at the Network. During Super Bowl XXXVIII, Bernstein became the first sideline reporter to serve as both a network TV (CBS) and network radio (Westwood One) correspondent on the same broadcast.
Bernstein first joined ESPN in 19
95 as its Chicago Bureau Chief, where she covered Michael Jordan and the Bulls’ second historic “three-peat.” She also filed game reports and features for SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, NFL Countdown and College GameDay.
In 1993, Bernstein made local television history at KRNV-TV in Reno, NV (NBC), as the “Biggest Little City’s” first-ever female weekday sports anchor. She began her television career at WMDT-TV (ABC) in Salisbury, MD, anchoring weekend news, and broke into broadcasting in radio as the News and Sports Director for WXJN-FM in Lewes, DE.
Rock, a school-based youth fitness program, and Co-Chaired the Coalition supporting congressional passage of the National Foundation on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, which raises private funds for childhood obesity initiatives. Additionally, Bernstein is the Co-National Spokesperson for the Coalition to Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis. Since surviving near-fatal blood clots in 2006, she has canvassed the country promoting DVT education and awareness and helped influence federal DVT legislation and a “call to action” issued by the U.S. Surgeon General.
Numerous publications have documented Bernstein’s work, including The New York Times, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and TV Guide and lifestyle magazines such as Glamour, Self, Men’s Health and Celebrity Living. In 2010, she received Pop Warner’s “Female Achievement Award” for serving as a positive role model for kids. Bernstein has been named one of New York Moves Magazine’s “Power Women” and Jewish Women International has included her on its “Ten Women to Watch” list, an exclusive group selected from the United States, Canada and Israel for their professional achievements.
Bernstein graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Maryland’s prestigious Merrill College of Journalism. She currently serves on the College’s Board of Visitors as well as the Advisory Board for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism. While at College Park, Bernstein was a four-time Academic All-America selection (gymnastics) and received the Thomas M. Fields Award for academic and athletic excellence.
Bernstein was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in Howell, N.J. She presently resides in New York City.