Joe Tessitore

Joe Tessitore (b. in Schenectady, New York) is an American television sports broadcaster. Joe is best known as a popular boxing announcer for ESPN and a voice over talent for video game industry leader EA Sports. He has covered a wide array of sporting events for ESPN and is also a featured columnist for ESPN.com.

Tessitore has been an on-air broadcaster for ESPN since February 2002. He partners with Teddy Atlas as the ringside commentator for ESPN’s "Friday Night Fights", "Wednesday Night Fights" and special live coverage of "The Contender". Joe is also is a host for ESPN’s Horse Racing coverage. Recently Tessitore was part of the 2006 Breeders Cup broadcast team. Joe has also worked play-by-play duties through the years on ESPN College Football, ESPN College Basketball and the PBA Tour. Tessitore also has hosted numerous ESPN Classic Boxing shows. Since 2004 Tessitore has been the voice and technical consultant for the top selling Fight Night video game produced by EA Sports. Joe is considered an expert in many of the fields he covers. He is part of "Ring Magazine’s" rankings panel as well as a longtime voter for the Heisman Trophy. Joe is also a weekly contributor to ESPN.com as a featured writer.

Tessitore’s distinct voice over work has been used in several feature films including "Annapolis" and "The Breakup". He has also appeared in the TV Drama "The Dead Zone" acting as himself in an episode. Tessitore has established himself as a specialist in voice over for video games.

Tessitore is a proud member of the "National Italian-American Foundation" and sits on the board of Directors for the "Cystic Fibrosis Foundation". Tessitore is the founder and host of the long running "Sportscaster’s SuperBall", which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for CF Research.

He is the new chief television host of the Breeders' Cup on ESPN starting in 2007.

Early career

The foundation of Tessitore’s career is rooted in local television. For over eight years he was the lead sports anchor at WFSB Channel 3 in Hartford, Tessitore anchored the 6:00 & 11:00 sportscasts as well as all special programming. He was the play-by-play broadcaster for UConn Huskies football. Tessitore was also the host of the "Jim Calhoun Show", the host of the "Randy Edsall Show" and of the PGA Tour’s "Greater Hartford Open". In the 1990’s Joe also worked on many Hartford Whalers NHL broadcasts and did play-by-play for Women’s Basketball. Tessitore covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series through his years at Ch.3. Prior to joining WFSB, Tessitore was a sports anchor at WRGB channel 6 in Schenectady, New York and prior to that spent valuable time in the sports department at KXAS channel 5 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Education

Tessitore graduated from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College with a degree in Marketing. For his college preparatory studies, Tessitore graduated from Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, NY.

Personal

Joe Tessitore is married to noted restaurateur Rebecca McDonnell Tessitore (Wallingford via Chersire, CT) with whom he shares two children with, John Vincenzo and Nicolina Tessitore. Joe is an avid coffee drinker who eagerly awaits Starbucks annual Pumpkin Spice Latte (served with whip cream) brew. Joe is an accomplished thoroughbred handicapper and has a permanently reserved table at Saratoga Springs.