Kate Abdo
Kate Abdo (born 8 September 1981, Manchester, England) is an English sports broadcaster who can speak multiple languages.[1] Throughout her career she has worked internationally in the UK, Spain, France, Germany and the US. She currently hosts UEFA Champions League football for the American sports television network CBS Sports.[2]
Kate Abdo | |
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Born | Kate Giles 8 September 1981 Manchester, England |
Education | University of Salford (BA) |
Occupation | Sports broadcaster |
Employer | CBS Sports |
Career
Abdo's broadcasting career started at the German international news network Deutsche Welle where she hosted sports coverage for their English and German-language services.
From there she moved to CNN, where she anchored the "World Sports" program daily. She also hosted the "Inside Africa" feature show. Abdo left CNN to join Sky Sport News HD in Germany, where she was head anchor and the face of the network. Abdo joined to be a public face for the launch of the network and was also heavily involved in the development of the network's coverage, formats and programming.
From Germany, Abdo moved to the UK to join Sky Sports, where she hosted the Pay Per View Boxing events, European Football, Transfer Deadline day and Sky Sports News. Sky Sports loaned Abdo to Fox Sports to host their coverage of the Women's World Cup in 2015, and Abdo later took up a permanent offer from the network to relocate to the US and host their Champions League, Europa League, World Cup, FA Cup, and Bundesliga coverage.
Since being at Fox, she has also now taken on the role of hosting Fox's Premier Boxing Champions, including a regular studio show "Inside PBC Boxing" and fight night coverage. After Fox lost the rights to Champions League to Turner, Abdo also signed a deal to host Champions League coverage on TNT from Turner's Atlanta studios.[3]
Abdo is also well known for her role hosting the FIFA Ballon d'Or and Laureus World Sports Awards, both of which she hosted on numerous occasions. At the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony she spoke with contestants and guests in four languages.[4] She was also a host for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or.
After losing major soccer rights and the cancellation of ‘’Inside PBC’’, Abdo left Fox Sports.
In 2020, Abdo returned to the UK to work for CBS Sports as the host of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.
Abdo still works in the US for DAZN's boxing coverage.
Personal life
Born in Manchester, she studied at Christ the King School Manchester and Withington Girls' School. She moved to Spain at the age of 17 and learned Spanish and took her high school diploma. A year later, she began a university degree there and studied "Translation and Interpreting."
Abdo took time out of her degree to live in France and Germany. She also graduated from the University of Salford with a first-class B.A. (Hons) in European Languages. She has lived extensively in Spain, France and Germany and is fluent in all three languages. Kate is a Manchester United fan.[5]
References
- "10 Things You Didn't Know about Kate Abdo".
- Herrera, Sandra. "CBS Sports unveils studio and match coverage for UEFA Champions League and Europa League". CBS Sports.
- Chiari, Mike. "Kate Abdo Announced as Studio Host for Turner's UEFA Champions League Coverage". Bleacher Report.
- "Who is Kate Abdo? All you need to know about the Ballon d'Or hostess". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- Banks, Paul (18 January 2017). "Manchester United fan Kate Abdo Leaves Sky Sports, Joins FOX". newsamericas. Retrieved 31 December 2020.