Melissa Stark

Melissa Stark is the sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football and began her third season on primetime’s #1 show in Sept. 2024. This past summer, Stark served as a reporter on NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris Olympics swimming competition, her second poolside assignment (Athens 2004) and fourth Olympics with NBCU.

Stark joined NBC Sports in April 2022, more than 25 years after her first media job as a high school extern with Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL-TV. In prominent broadcast roles since – as a host, reporter, and correspondent – she has interviewed the likes of Bill Belichick, Jack Nicklaus, Larry Bird, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Tiger Woods.

Stark was nominated for a Sports Emmy following her first season (2022) on the sidelines for Sunday Night Football. In a December 2022 profile, Yahoo! Sports wrote that she has a “perfectionist itch.”

SNF averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 21.4 million viewers in 2023 (including 19.9 million viewers as measured by Nielsen), ranking as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for an unprecedented 13th consecutive year – adding to its record for the most successive years atop the charts (since 1950), based on official live plus same day data provided by Nielsen.

Stark previously served as a host and reporter with NFL Network from 2011-24, with a principal role on the Sports Emmy award-winning NFL 360, a platform for NFL players and coaches to shine a light on the people, places and moments that are important to them through in-depth documentary storytelling. She also served as host of the NFL Draft red carpet, conducted interviews at NFL Honors, and handled sideline duties for NFL Network’s international games.

From 2003 to 2007, Stark returned to NBC as a TODAY show national correspondent. She contributed as a newsreader on TODAY and as fill-in host on WEEKEND TODAY. In addition, Stark anchored MSNBC breaking news coverage and interviewed top newsmakers. During her NBC News stint, she worked three Olympics, anchoring MSNBC’s Beijing 2008 coverage, serving as an NBC Sports correspondent for speed skating and the opening ceremony in Torino in 2006, and reporting on swimming and diving in Athens in 2004.

Prior to NBC, Stark spent seven years at ESPN, serving as the sideline reporter for three seasons on ABC’s Monday Night Football (2000-02) alongside broadcasting legends John Madden and Al Michaels. She capped her final season working Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003. She also spent time as a reporter/correspondent on a range of ESPN properties and shows, including NFL Countdown, SportsCenter, and Outside the Lines.

Stark began her broadcast career at Home Team Sports, before moving on to her first role at ESPN hosting Scholastic Sports America, where she interviewed elite high school athletes.

Stark and her husband Mike live in New Jersey with their four children. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia in 1995, where she continues to guest lecture and mentor the next generation of female journalists. In her free time, Stark enjoys playing tennis and golf.