A former WWE 24/7 Champion, Rob Stone hosts FOX Sports' studio coverage of soccer, college basketball and college football, including the network's Saturday pregame show BIG NOON KICKOFF. He is the lead play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports' coverage of the Go Bowling! Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour on FOX and FS1.
Stone was the lead studio host of FIFA WORLD CUP™ TODAY, airing from iconic Red Square in Moscow during FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ and hosted FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP LIVE and FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP TODAY from the network's Paris studio during the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019™. Stone joined FOX Sports in 2012 as the lead studio host for FOX Sports’ soccer, college football and college basketball programming and has anchored coverage of Major League Soccer, the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, Copa America, Gold Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and England’s FA Cup and hosted more than 40 editions of FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Canada.
Prior to joining FOX, Stone worked for ESPN as a soccer commentator and served as a sideline reporter for select MLS and U.S. Soccer telecasts on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, beginning in 1997. He covered four FIFA World Cups and 12 MLS Cups. During the World Cup in 1998, he traveled through host country France, filing daily reports for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC on the offbeat and behind-the-scenes event happenings around the world’s most-popular sporting event. At the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, he served as a host for World Cup 2Night, as well as the pregame, halftime and postgame segments. In 2006, Stone served as both a reporter and play-by-play announcer at the World Cup in Germany, and in 2010 he served as a reporter at the World Cup in South Africa.
Stone’s television career began at ESPN as a production assistant in 1992 where he worked on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines and College GameDay. Stone was also a weekend sports anchor and sports reporter (1993-94) and sports director (1994-95) for WFXL-TV, a FOX affiliate in Albany, Ga. From 1995-97, Stone was a weekend sports anchor and sports reporter for WTOG-TV in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla., where he reported for the Tony Dungy Show and the Sam Wyche Report and was chief reporter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ pregame show. During the 1996 and 1997 MLS seasons, Stone was an analyst for the Tampa Bay Mutiny matches on SportsChannel Florida, now FOX Sports Florida.
In addition to Stone’s impressive soccer resume, he has quickly become one of sports television’s most versatile and respected personalities. At ESPN, he served as a college football sideline reporter beginning in 1999 and picked up college football play-by-play duties in 2010, covering several conferences, including the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, BIG EAST, Pac-12 and MAC. In addition to football, Stone contributed to ESPN’s coverage of men’s and women’s college basketball; NCAA tennis; national spelling bee; boxing; skiing; darts; horse racing; the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest; Great Outdoor Games; college soccer; track & field; and the PBA.
Originally from Simsbury, Conn., Stone graduated from Colgate University in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in English. He was an All-State and All-Conference soccer player as a midfielder for the Red Raiders and held the captain position in his senior year. In 2018, he was inducted into the CT Soccer Hall of Fame. Stone currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lynn, and their four children.