| Marly Rivera | |
| Birth Date: | 14 November 1973 |
| Birth Place: | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Occupation: | Sportswriter |
Marly Rivera (born November 14, 1973) is a sportswriter and reporter who formerly worked for ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and was also a contributor to ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes Radio.[1]
In April 2023, Rivera was fired from the network for getting into an argument with another reporter, Ivón Gaete, calling her a "fucking cunt" at Yankee Stadium following a confrontation. Gaete, a freelance reporter, is the wife of MLB vice president of communications John Blundell.[2]
Rivera was a general assignment sportswriter and reporter at ESPN Deportes Digital before being named a New York Yankees beat writer. She is the second woman of color to have covered the Yankees as a beat, following in the footsteps of her mentor, Claire Smith.[3]
Prior to working at ESPN, Rivera was an editorial producer and writer at Major League Baseball Advanced Media and a reporter and editor at Univision Communications. She was the only Latina national baseball writer and commentator for ESPN and ESPN Deportes and the only woman to have been a color commentator for ESPN Deportes Radio for MLB's All Star Game, postseason, and World Series broadcasts.[4]
Rivera has been a guest contributor on Béisbol Esta Noche and Sunday Night Baseball in Spanish and English, in addition to Outside the Lines. She is also a frequent contributor to ESPN's flagship program, SportsCenter, and was a guest panelist on the July 21–22, 2016 edition of ESPN First Take.[5] [6] Rivera was the host of the Max y Marly podcast alongside SportsCenter anchor Max Bretos. She was also the lead reporter on the ESPN initiative known as “Béisbol Experience”, the most extensive cross-platform project ever done by the network on Latino MLB players living in the United States.[7] [8]
Rivera hosted the debate show Nación ESPN on ESPN2 alongside NBA Analyst and ESPN Los Angeles Radio host Jorge Sedano.[9]
On October 13, 2017, Rivera was named one of “The 30 Most Influential Hispanics in Sports” by Sports Illustrated.[10]
Rivera was fired by ESPN on April 26, 2023 for calling a fellow journalist, Ivón Gaete, an expletive. Prior to a New York Yankees game, Rivera objected to Gaete interviewing Aaron Judge, as Rivera claimed she had scheduled time to speak exclusively with him prior to the game. When Gaete refused to discontinue the interview, Rivera called her a “fucking cunt”, which was caught on video. Rivera later said, "I fully accept responsibility for what I said, which I should not have, there were extenuating circumstances but that in no way is an excuse for my actions."[11] [12]
Rivera is bilingual.[13] She was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to the United States as a teenager. Her parents, Ray and Elba, are from the small town of Coamo.
Rivera has done philanthropic work to support her island of Puerto Rico after the impact of Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017.