Adan Manzano, a sports reporter covering the Chiefs, died Wednesday while on assignment for Super Bowl 2025 in New Orleans for Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports, KGKC general manager Steve Downing said in a statement Thursday.
A cause of death wasn’t immediately made available, and Downing said in his statement that the network was “cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate this tragic event.”
“As KGKC’s Sports Anchor & Reporter, Adan was a true professional and a rising star, who exemplified excellence in his work,” Downing continued in his statement. “We will deeply miss Adan and his passion for sports, and the contributions he made to the local community. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Manzano was 27 years old, according to KMBC, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City.
Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports, is pictured at a
Royals game. Facebook/Adan Manzano
Manzano had worked at KGKC since April 2021, according to his LinkedIn page, and after the Mexico City native moved to Topeka, Kan., in 2018, he graduated from Kansas State, according to a KSNT story from 2024.
“I used to dream about this but I never expected that it was going to come that soon,” Manzano told the outlet before Super Bowl 2024, when he worked as a sideline reporter. “It’s just a blessing.”
In his final X post, Manzano captioned a picture of Mahomes with a large collection of reporters gathered around his table at Super Bowl opening night with the line, “Mahomes vs el Mundo” — which translates to “Mahomes vs. the world.”
He also posted a picture Sunday of a Super Bowl 2025 sign and expressed gratitude for being able to cover the event for a third time with the Chiefs going for a three-peat.
Months after last year’s Super Bowl, Manzano’s wife, Ashleigh Boyd, was killed in a car crash after a driver crossed the center line and struck their car, according to KSNT.
The couple’s 1-year-old daughter, who was in the car with her mother, survived.
Boyd worked as a teacher at Lowman Hill Elementary School in Topeka, and she told KSNT before Super Bowl 2024 that Manzano had “worked so hard at this.”
“There’s been times when he’s had two or three jobs to make ends meet,” Boyd said at the time. “And now knowing he gets to go out there and do what he loves and what he’s good at, it’s just the best feelings ever.”
