Fernando Palomo (Photo credit: Joma Garcia Gisbert/ESPN Images) Fernando Palomo (Photo credit: Joma Garcia Gisbert/ESPN Images)
By Michael Grant on

Fernando Palomo didn’t follow the typical path to broadcasting success.

The El Salvador native went from being a javelin star with a degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M to becoming ESPN’s top Spanish match commentator, studio host, and Olympics reporter. Palomo, who has been with The Worldwide Leader in Sports since 2000, has recently signed a multiyear extension with ESPN.

Palomo has served as a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN in Latin America and ESPN Deportes, and he was also the Spanish voice for Sunday Night Football. Today, he is recognized as a top U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster for La Liga. He will call the Madrid Derby when Real Madrid faces Atlético Madrid on Sunday, March 22, at 4 p.m. ET. Fernando will broadcast the match live in Spanish from Madrid on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.

We recently caught up with Palomo to discuss his career and his new ESPN deal.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: Congratulations on the new contract. What does that mean to you?

Fernando Palomo: “It feels great to be appreciated. I’ve been with ESPN for 26 years, so this is the one place I call my professional home, where I began to become a professional announcer. I always wanted to go in front of the microphone. Since 2000, this has become what I do and who I am. As I tell journalism students, and I was just with them at Texas A&M a couple of weeks back, I didn’t graduate from a journalism school, but I have played [a journalist] on TV for 26 years.”

What were you planning to use your agricultural economics degree for?

“My idea was always to go back and help El Salvador grow. We were finishing off a civil war in El Salvador when I graduated. So, the idea for a 22, 23-year-old to go back then was very idealistic. I wanted to go back and make my country great. I was going to school here, thinking I would use my degree to help the coffee industry, which my family has been part of for three generations. When I came back, I got a job at an advertising agency because I wanted to learn more about the advertising business in El Salvador.”

When did you first develop an interest in broadcasting?

“Even before going to college, I started working with a microphone when I was a junior in high school in El Salvador. I loved doing it because it gave me a chance to say things I knew about the sports I loved, like track and the Olympic movement. I was not involved in soccer at all because that area was already taken by the experts. They were the ones who had long careers. I knocked on the door because I wanted to provide the TV station in El Salvador with my knowledge of the sports that they were covering.”

What was the big break that led you to ESPN?

“I sent a letter to Geoffrey Mason in October 1999 with my resume. He was the only person I knew at ESPN International. I got his name from the NFL’s Black Book. I was doing NFL football back in El Salvador. I was calling Monday nights that season, and I wanted to do it where the pros did it, right? I sent that résumé to a bunch of outlets in the U.S., and ESPN was the one that actually picked it up and answered.”

What does it mean to you that you are ESPN’s go-to voice for La Liga?

“Trust. I know the company has invested a lot in this property, and that we are pushing once again for soccer to become an integral part of our programming. La Liga is one of the most important properties. It’s the most popular sport in the world. So, I take it as an example of the trust they have in me.”

How would you explain the Madrid Derby to someone who didn’t know much about it?

“It’s like the two biggest houses on opposite ends of the neighborhood meeting for a cookoff. Each wants to throw the best party of the year. They each want the best barbecue. And if they don’t, they tell the rest of the neighborhood that they actually do. Once or twice a year, they meet in the middle of the neighborhood. They meet in each other’s backyard, and then whoever wins is the one who can unfurl the flag for the rest of the year until they meet again. It’s all about bragging rights.”

How are these teams different?

“One team tailors more to the elite, and they make it known because of their financial power or strength. The other one feels more like a middle-class team, a working-class team. It’s a clash of two different ways of going about the sport. They’re big. They don’t make it seem as if Atlético Madrid doesn’t have any resources, but their culture is different. They portray themselves as being something other than Real Madrid.”

What do you enjoy most about your job?

“I love introducing games. The 45 seconds we get once the studio show throws it to us. You start showing the lineups and all that. The 45 seconds to introduce the crowd to the game with my voice is what I look forward to when it comes to these big matches. I try to tell a little story about what the game means to the city on that particular day. So I’m looking forward to that.”

Do you have a signature call or catchphrase?

“I came up with a phrase to start each game. After kickoff, once they move the ball, I say ‘Nos ponemos las pilas,’ which is like saying, ‘Let’s get it together. Let’s get it on.’ It’s a saying you would use in Latin America if you were trying to draw someone’s attention to the moment. I’ve been saying it since 2015. I had a conversation with the producer back then. He said that phrase could actually work on the air. I’m going to start using it.

“That phrase I gave to him off-air was at a Champions League final when he gave me the wrong count before our live broadcast of the Champions League final from Portugal. So I pressed the talkback button and said, ‘Hey, Nos ponemos las pilas! Get your act together!’ I didn’t say anything else; that’s all he needed to hear. The next day, he came up to me and said, ‘Nos ponemos las pilas!’ He definitely remembered what I said. I then said, “Well, we could start using that in our broadcast from now on.’ That was the last game of the season. In the first game of the next season, I started using it.”

When’s the last time you threw a javelin?

“In competition, it was 1999. I did screw up my elbow about three years ago. We’re helping—we as a family—this youth track academy in El Salvador, and they had this aspiring decathlete. I show up to practice, and they’re throwing the javelin. I’m out there tossing it around with them, and everything hurt from then on. My elbow was hurting for a month and a half. I can’t bend it straight. I walk with a crooked knee. It’s a daily reminder of what I did.”

About Michael Grant

Born in Jamaica. Grew up in New York City. Lives in Louisville, Ky. Sports writer. Not related to Ulysses S. Grant.

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