Name: Palomo, Fernando
Title: Announcer at ESPN
Texas A&M Class: 1996
Inducted: 2019
Fernando Palomo grew up in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. He is the youngest of seven children. Palomo attended Colegio San Francisco for 12 years, from 1st grade until he graduated high school. He was a member of the Honor Society at his school, as well as a member of the school’s baseball and track and field teams.
Palomo graduated from Texas A&M University with his B.S. in Agricultural Economics in 1996. While at A&M, he competed in the javelin event on the Track & Field Team. He was a three-year letterman. He was also a member on the Texas A&M team that competed at the 1996 NCAA Track & Field Championships. While attending A&M, Palomo was also a member of El Salvador’s national track and field team that competed in the 1995 World Championships in Athletics. In 1998, he threw an El Salvador national record in javelin, 72.70 meters, that still stands today
Continuing his athletic career after graduation, Palomo remained a member of El Salvador’s national track and field team until 1999. He competed in the 1998 Central American Games held in Maracaibo, Venezuela and the 1998 Ibero-American Games held in Lisbon, Portugal.
Palomo began his sports broadcasting career in 2000 with ESPN calling Sunday Night Football, based out of Bristol, Connecticut. Soon thereafter, he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina to anchor the first-ever ESPN SportsCenter for the Latin-American market. He covered the 2002 World Cup South America qualifiers and the 2002 Central American Games. He also hosted the studio show for the 2002 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League Final and the 2002 World Cup. In 2003, working for ESPN Deportes SportsCenter based in Mexico City, Palomo anchored the first ESPN SportsCenter for the Hispanic audience in the United States. He also covered the 2003 Pan American Games, the Athens 2004 Olympics, the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, the 2005 and 2006 Masters Tournament from the Augusta National Golf Club, and the 2005 US Open golf tournament in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Since 2006, Palomo has lived in Bristol, Connecticut where he continues to broadcast for ESPN Deportes. He currently hosts “Fuera de Juego,” ESPN Deportes’ and ESPN Latin America’s daily soccer debate show. He has been a soccer announcer for La Liga, Serie A, English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, EURO, World Cup qualifiers, and Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Champion’s League. He has also been the Spanish voice for EA Sports’ FIFA video game for nine editions, starting in 2013. He is humbly proud of the opportunity to enter many houses filled with young boys and encourage their passion for the game of soccer. Being the voice of EA Sports’ FIFA has been an incredible experience that makes Palomo’s voice recognizable around the world. During his time in Bristol, he has also hosted and announced at the Pan American Games of 2007, 2011 and 2015, as well as the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and he has hosted the ESPY Awards for ESPN Latin America.
Along with Palomo’s impressive career with ESPN Deportes, he devotes considerable time to charities and social work. He is an ambassador for Glasswing International Foundation, an innovative non-profit that addresses the root causes of poverty and violence in Central America and searches to find solutions to the problems by investing in the area’s infrastructure and people. He is also an ambassador for FUSAL, a non-profit organization that cannels the experience of Salvadorian entrepreneurs committed to social development with the most disadvantaged members of society and makes available to them through health actions and education. Additionally, Palomo still remains active with Texas A&M University. He is a lifetime member of the Texas A&M Lettermen’s Association, a Century Club member, and a guest speaker at various events for the Athletics Department and the Political Science Department.
Fernando and his wife, Alexandra, have been married for 17 years. They have three children, Juan Marcos (14 years-old), Matias (12 years-old), and Valentina (8 years-old). Palomo spends his time away from work around his children, attending school and sport activities. He also enjoys reading, traveling, and occasionally losing golf balls at the nearest course.
