David Amber (born April 21, 1971) is a Canadian anchor for

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

as a host and reporter. He is best known for his time doing ''NHL On the Fly'' on the NHL Network and as the anchor for ''Gate 5 Live'', ''Raptors Pregame'', and ''Raptors Post Up'' on

NBA TV Canada NBA TV Canada is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). It is the Canadian version of NBA TV, broadcasting programming focused on the National Basketball Association, and ...

. He had been an anchor and reporter for

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 ...

and its family of networks.

Biography

Amber, who had appeared on ESPN networks since 2002, was based in Toronto, contributing to

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 ...

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'' is an American sports news and analysis program that was broadcast by ESPN from 1990 to 2022. The series featured segments with discussions and investigative journalism surrounding prominent headlines and topics within spor ...

, Baseball Tonight and College GameDay. A reporter since 2006, Amber had provided coverage from the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

MLB postseason The Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason is the annual playoff elimination tournament held to determine the champion of MLB in the United States and Canada. Since 2022, the postseason for each league— American and National—consists of tw ...

and other major events, as well as serving as a sideline reporter for

NCAA football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

and the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

. Amber joined ESPN as an

ESPNEWS ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News," stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hear ...

anchor in 2002, also anchoring ''Outside the Lines'', ''NHL2Night'' and

NCAA basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athletic bodies, including the National Collegiate Athletic ...

. Prior to ESPN, Amber served as a reporter and anchor for TSN in Toronto (1997–2002). At TSN, Amber reported from two Olympic Games, and several

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

, and

. From 1999 to 2001 he was a courtside reporter for TSN's broadcasts of

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

games. Amber joined NHL Network before the 2010–11 NHL season as host of ''NHL Tonight''. Amber also serves as co-host for the Network's coverage at the NHL's signature events and exclusive programming. He joined the ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' team at the start of the 2011–12 NHL season. After

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sys ...

secured a 12-year, $5.2 billion deal for the exclusive national NHL rights at the start of the 2014–15 season, Amber has joined

to serve as a reporter for their coverage. From 2016 to 2022, he became the studio host of the late game of ''Hockey Night in Canada'', after the departure of George Stroumboulopoulos. In 2022, with Caroline Cameron covering the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

, Amber filled-in on ''Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey''. From 2022 to 2024, Amber was the lead studio host for ''Rogers Monday Night Hockey''. In the 2024-25 NHL season, Amber fills in for Cameron, while Cameron is on maternity leave, again, on ''Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey''. Amber received his Bachelor of Arts degree in North American Studies from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in Montreal in 1993, and a Master of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1995.

Personal life

Amber's older sister is Jeannine Amber a graduate of

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

and an award-winning Senior Writer at ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'' magazine, based in New York City. Amber's sister is also the author of the award-winning book Rabbit: The Autobiography of Ms. Pat. Amber is married with two children.

References

External links

David Amber, Host, NHL On The Fly
retrieved 23 November 2010. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amber, David Living people Black Canadian broadcasters Canadian television sportscasters Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States Canadian television journalists Toronto Raptors announcers Journalists from Toronto National Hockey League broadcasters NBA broadcasters College football announcers 1971 births Black Canadian journalists