Michele Tafoya

Multi Emmy Award winner Michele Tafoya joined the NBC Sports Group from 2011-2022 as a sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football after more than a decade at ABC/ESPN, where she saw her profile rise steadily since 2000 through a variety of on-air roles, most notably as a reporter for Monday Night Football and ABC’s coverage of the NBA Championships. Tafoya was a part of NBC’s Olympic coverage and has served as the sideline reporter for NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLVI, XLIX, LII, LVI, and ABC’s coverage of Super Bowl XL. Now, Tafoya is going into politics, co-chairing a Minnesota gubernatorial campaign. 

After serving as the sideline reporter for ABC Sports' Monday Night Football for two seasons (2004-05), Tafoya joined ESPN's Monday Night Football in 2006. In the fall of 2008, Tafoya made the difficult decision to step down from her NBA reporter role to spend more time with her family.

Tafoya previously hosted The Michele Tafoya Show on WCCO News Radio 830 AM in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Prior to ABC/ESPN, Tafoya worked for CBS Sports from 1994-2000 as a game reporter and studio host for NFL, college football and college basketball telecasts. She hosted CBS' NCAA Tournament selection show, Goodwill Games and U.S. Open coverage, as well as CBS's late-night Winter Olympics programs. She was also a WNBA commentator on Lifetime from 1997-99, for which she won The American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award for “Outstanding Achievement by an Individual On-Air TV Personality.”  She would later win the same award for her sideline work on Sunday Night Football.

Early in her career, Tafoya worked as a host and Minnesota Vikings sideline reporter for KFAN-AM in Minneapolis and also served as a Minnesota Timberwolves host and sideline reporter for the Midwest Sports Channel. She spent three years at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis as a sports anchor and reporter from 1995 to 1998.

A native of Manhattan Beach, California, Tafoya graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree, with honors, in mass communications.  She also earned her master's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. The Davie-Brown Index ranked Tafoya among the most likeable TV sports personalities, including “Biggest Trend-Setter.”