Jane McManus is an author, academic and sports writer. 

Her book The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women's Sports details the progress and reluctance in women's sports and media. She also guest-edited The Year's Best Sports Writing 2024 and teaches at New York University. She was the Executive Director of the Seton Hall Center for Sports Media, and the Director of the Marist College Center for Sports Communication.

McManus spent nearly 10 years at ESPN, covering the NFL and as a columnist for espnW. She hosted two radio shows, including The Trifecta with Kate Fagan and Sarah Spain, and was a frequent analyst for SportsCenter, The Sports Reporters, and Outside the Lines among other ESPN shows. Prior to that, McManus covered everything from high schools to the US Open for The Journal News in Westchester, NY, and her work has appeared in Deadspin, The New York Daily News, Newsday, The New York Times, USA Today, The Independent of London and other outlets. She has appeared as a guest on Good Morning America, CNN and NPR’s Morning Edition.

She received a BA in the Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis Md. and a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she taught sports journalism for over a decade.

While she was covering the New York Jets for ESPN, McManus played roller derby for seven years as Lesley E. Visserate.