Trailblazer Lesley Visser to receive 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award at New York Festivals

Lesley Visser is a trailblazer for women in media and sports.

True innovator

A true innovator in sports journalism, Visser has made history as the first woman to achieve numerous milestones in the industry, earning her place as the most highly acclaimed female sportscaster of all time.

The New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award, launched in 2011, honours prominent industry leaders, innovators, and driving forces in the broadcast world whose groundbreaking accomplishments have advanced their field and left a lasting impact on the industry. The award recipient will be celebrated at the annual Storytellers Gala virtual event, which will recognise TV & Film Awards and Radio Awards trophy winners in May 2025.

“I am deeply honoured to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Television and Film Awards,” said Visser, “and I love that it will be presented at the Storytellers Gala. The heart of any sports journalist is dedicated to telling stories. I’m grateful to CBS for giving me this opportunity for more than 30 years, and I salute the men and women who have won this honour before me.”

A nine-time Hall of Fame inductee, Lesley Visser is the most highly acclaimed female sportscaster of all time with a long list of “firsts” to her credit. She was the first woman inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first to win the Lifetime Achievement Sports Emmy, and the first recipient of the Vin Scully Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.

Visser broke new ground as the first woman to appear on network broadcasts of the Final Four, the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl, and the World Series, and remains the only woman to have presented the Championship Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl. A true trailblazer, she was the first woman on ABC’s Monday Night Football, the first female sportscaster to carry the Olympic Torch, and the only recipient of the Billie Jean King “Outstanding Journalist Award.” Among her many honours, Visser has been named a Muhammad Ali “Daughter of Greatness” and was inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists alongside CBS legend Marvin Kalb.

In her impressive 50-year career, Lesley Visser has reported on some of the most pivotal moments in history, from the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to Martina Navratilova’s return to Prague after defecting, and to Shanghai for HBO's Real Sports with Yao Ming before his NBA draft.

Visser was invited by the US State Department to speak to aspiring women in Uzbekistan, a country with no freedom of the press and where domestic abuse remains a significant issue for women. Safeguarded by the US Embassy in Tashkent, she addressed women’s groups, empowering them to use their collective voice for change.

Contributions

In 2023, Visser covered the historic first-ever college basketball game played in Paris, conducting an interview with US Ambassador Denise Campbell Bauer. For CBS, she spoke with Mark Cuban about his bid to purchase the Big Ten Conference. Throughout her career, she has contributed to major network broadcasts, including the Olympics, the Triple Crown, the World Figure Skating Championships, and the US Open Tennis. Her exceptional career earned her the distinction of being voted the No. 1 Female Sportscaster of All-Time by the National Sportscasters of America.

Lesley Visser's groundbreaking career began at the Boston Globe in 1974, after winning a prestigious Carnegie Foundation Grant, awarded to just 20 women across the country seeking careers in fields dominated by men. Two years later, she made history as the first woman to cover the NFL for the Globe, at a time when press box credentials read, "No Women or Children." Decades later at CBS Sports, she is currently a member of the Network’s show We Need To Talk, the first ever all-women sports talk show, which debuted in 2014.

Her exceptional writing earned her induction into the National Sports Media Hall of Fame for her work at both the Boston Globe and CBS.com. Visser was also voted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame for her contributions to CBS, ABC, ESPN, and HBO. A trailblazer in sports commentary, Visser became the first NFL analyst in both radio and TV. In 2018, she was honoured with the Newseum Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade first given to Walter Cronkite. A committed philanthropist, she served on the Board of the V Foundation for Cancer Research for over 20 years and contributed to the Board of NYU’s Sports and Society.

A graduate of Boston College, Visser was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2007. She has mentored young women for decades and been invited to speak everywhere from Abu Dhabi to London to Doha to Charleston, where she delivered an address for President Clinton’s Renaissance Weekend.

Her memoir, Sometimes You Have to Cross When It Says Don’t Walk, reflects her impressive journey of breaking barriers and has been optioned for both TV and film.

Visser's influence extends beyond her professional accomplishments; she has been named one of Esquire Magazine’s “Women We Love” and one of GQ's “Five Ideal Dinner Guests.” Her legacy as a trailblazer, a revered journalist, and a lasting figure in the world of sports broadcasting continue to inspire and shape the broadcast industry.

The annual TV & Film Awards Storytellers Gala, featuring winners and industry executives from around the globe, will be streamed in May 2025.