Al Bernstein (born September 15, 1950) is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and speaker.

Journalism career

In the 1970s, Bernstein was a newspaperman, working at

Lerner Newspapers Lerner Newspapers was a chain of weekly newspapers. Founded by Leo Lerner, the chain was an important contributor to community journalism in Chicago from 1926 to 2005 and called itself "the world's largest newspaper group". In its heyday, Lerner ...

in Chicago. He eventually became a managing editor at that newspaper. In 1978, he wrote ''Boxing For Beginners'', an instructional and historical book on boxing. He also wrote for '' Boxing Illustrated'' and ''The Ring'' during this period. In 2012, Bernstein released ''30 Years, 30 Undeniable Truths About Boxing, Sports and TV''.

Broadcasting

In 1980, Bernstein joined

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

as a ''

Top Rank Boxing Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

'' series boxing analyst. He stayed at ESPN until 2003, and during that time, he also worked as a reporter for ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'', covering major boxing matches,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. He also wrote and hosted the series Big Fights Boxing Hour for

ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television television network, network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which controlled an 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which had 20%). The channel was ...

. In 1988, he won the

Sam Taub Award The Sam Taub Award is an award conferred annually by the Boxing Writers Association of America for Excellence in Broadcasting Journalism. The award is named after Sam Taub, a journalist and radio broadcaster who is best known for his work coverin ...

for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism and in 2012 he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

. It was announced in December 2012 that he would be inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame as one of their inaugural inductees in 2013 in the Media category. In 1992 and 1996, he served as the boxing analyst for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's coverage of the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

. From 1999–2002, he was a sports anchor for KVVU news in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. From 2003-2023, Bernstein served as the boxing analyst on Showtime for ''

Showtime Championship Boxing ''Showtime Championship Boxing'' is a television boxing program that aired on Showtime (TV network), Showtime. Debuting in March 1986, it was broadcast live on the first Saturday of every month. ''Showtime Championship Boxing'', which was very ...

''. He has been Channel 5's main boxing analyst since 2011. He tends to wear the same blue shirt often, though he claims he has two of them.

Music

In 1988, Bernstein recorded his first album ''My Very Own Songs'', with original songs written by Tony Rome, about television and sports. He released ''Let The Games Begin'' in 1996. In 1998, he also began a career as a live musical performer. Since then he has performed at major casinos such as

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

, the

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises and complete ...

and The Riviera, as well as many Indian and

Riverboat casinos A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury u ...

around the United States.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Al 1950 births Living people American television sports announcers American sports radio personalities American boxing commentators ESPN people Jewish American sportswriters Sportswriters from California Sportswriters from Illinois International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century American Jews