British sports journalist and presenter Kate Abdo is set to continue being the face of football for Paramount Plus this season. Born in Manchester, Kate moved to Spain when she was 17, where she learned Spanish and finished up high school. She then began her University life whilst still in Spain before taking time off to live in France and Germany.
After that, she returned home to graduate from the University of Salford with a First Class BA in European Languages. Along with her native tongue, she is able to speak Spanish, French, and German fluently.
Kate grew up going to Old Trafford with her Dad and is a die-hard Manchester United fan. Meanwhile her Mom is a Liverpool supporter. What side she’s on in this rivalry was never more evident than last season, when she asked if Liverpool club legend and Paramount teammate Jamie Carragher would be brought back for next year’s CBS Sports/Paramount Plus Champions League coverage, should Liverpool not qualify for the competition.
Abdo then mentioned how there is a slot on Thursday nights available (Referring to the less glamorous consolation bracket UEFA competition, the Europa League).
This inspired uproarious laughter from the entire panel.
Confirmed in a media call on Thursday, the 40-year-old Mancunian will host CBS and Paramount + coverage of not only UEFA European competitions this season, but also Serie A and Italian Cup matches, with top tier Italian football broadcast rights being added to the network’s portfolio.
Speaking specifically about Serie A, Abdo said she looks forward to really delivering “in terms of content and in terms of speaking to an audience that is educated and engaged” in the league that now has somewhat of a cult following in the United States.
The press call consisted of three sessions, one covering the business and corporate side, another focused on Champions League coverage, and a third with Italian football as the basis. Abdo was the media figure on the call who took part in two of the three sessions.
After beginning her career working for CNN and Sky in Germany, Abdo made the move to Sky Sports in the UK. There she became a major on-air talent for the network hosting not only PPV Boxing events but also European Football, Transfer Deadline Day, and Sky Sports News.
In 2015 she was loaned to sister network Fox Sports in the USA to host the Women’s World Cup coverage. Then in 2017, the “loan deal became permanent” when Abdo made the move across the pond to become the lead soccer presenter on the same network.
When the channel began losing rights to major soccer leagues, she then appeared on TNT for their Champions League broadcasts. Shen then left Fox Sports to become the lead host of CBS/Paramount+ European footballing coverage.
In her short time in the United States, she has become the face of football broadcasting in the country for that network.
Outside of her CBS/Paramount duties, she has worked for FIFA as the host of the Ballon d’Or coverage.
At the 2014 edition of the awards ceremony she showed off her multilingual skills by interviewing contestants and guests in four different languages.
She also still works boxing events for the streaming service DAZN.
With the accomplished, multilingual, uber-professional yet also ultra-fun personality of Kate Abdo at the forefront of their coverage, Paramount +, CBS, and their viewers are in safe hands this season.