The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has officially been announced and Little League International is excited to celebrate three honorees who have been instrumental in the coverage and growth of the Little League program over the years.
Curt Gowdy Jr.
With a sports broadcasting career that lasted more than 46 years, including 29 years at ABC Sports where he served as the Senior Coordinating Producer for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Gowdy Jr. spent 16 summers producing the Little League Baseball World Series, helping bring the fun and excitement of the world’s largest youth sports tournament to families all around the world each August. As part of the 75th Anniversary of the Little League Baseball World Series, Gowdy joined then-Little League President and CEO, Steve Keener, as well as Jim Palmer and Dennis Lewin, for a special Six Inning conversation. In addition to his Little League career, Gowdy’s impressive portfolio also includes producing and overseeing three MLB World Series events, including the Bay Area earthquake Series and integral roles in the production of four Summer and Winter Olympic games, Super Bowl pre, half and post games, 14 Kentucky Derby, 12 Triple Crown races, 11 World Figure Skating Championships, 18 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and the historic 1991 Pan American Games, broadcast live from Havana, Cuba.
Pam Oliver
A trailblazer in the sports media landscape, and today serving as the longest tenured NFL sideline reporter, Oliver also spent time as a reporter for ESPN at the Little League World Series during the early part of her career. Along with her illustrious career covering the NFL, Oliver has also extended her reporting expertise to NCAA Women’s and Men’s College Football and Basketball and the NBA Finals.
Bill Rasmussen
Rasmussen founded ESPN in the summer of 1978 and by the following year he had found an investor and had the network on air. Thanks to his efforts and ability to launch the network, Little League and ESPN/ABC have been able to work together since 1963 to bring the fun, excitement, and enjoyment of the Little League World Series each year and today serves approximately 340 baseball and softball games each summer to audiences around the world on ESPN Platforms.
These three honorees join Glenn Adamo, Lee Corso, Greg Gumbel, Marc Herklotz, Jerry Jones, Hiroshi Kiriyama, and David Levy. This year’s class will be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame on Dec. 16 at the New York Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan and the host for the ceremony will be former CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus.