Photo: LILY HERNANDEZ / FOX SPORTS
T
hree hours after Judy Boyd gave birth to her second child, she was on her phone, sending emails with instructions for the Fox Sports production staff that was assigned to cover the Women’s World Cup.
Judy Boyd
Fox Sports | Vice President, Production and Coordinating Producer
It was late June, and the U.S. team had just defeated China in the tournament’s quarterfinals and was three days away from a semifinal match against Germany that was expected to attract a huge audience. That gave Boyd an excuse to send out some messages.
“That’s not something that I really want to tell my son in the future,” she joked, recounting the story.
Boyd’s pregnancy kept her from traveling to Canada for the tournament, which was the culmination of two years of work to prepare the network’s coverage. That coverage would be widely praised among industry executives and media critics.
The Women’s World Cup was the biggest production the group had ever undertaken, and Boyd felt the pressure.
“There was a lot of planning because it was the first time we’ve taken on a monthlong production of this size,” said Boyd, who began at the network as an intern in 1998 and has been full time since 2000. “When we do NFL or MLB, we are the main rights holder and we’re treated as such. When you’re doing World Cup, we’re one of 180 and we’re not special. That was unique for Fox.”
Now that the World Cup has ended, Boyd’s focus has returned to Fox’s college football and MLB productions, where she oversees all the remotes — from the equipment that will be used, to the crew assignments at each site.
“A lot of it is figuring out budgets,” she said, “and what kind of game complements we’re going to do.”
— John Ourand
- Notable professional achievement: Associate producer on Super Bowl XXXIX, because of the magnitude of doing that kind of event at the level I was at.
- Biggest professional disappointment: “Lunch with Benefits” [Fox Sports’ short-lived online series]. Not necessarily a disappointment but a huge learning curve for me where a lot of mistakes were made that I learned a lot from.
- Best advice received: Don’t assume anything and don’t make the same mistake twice.
- Causes supported: Boys & Girls Clubs; Big Brothers Big Sisters.
- Most memorable sporting events attended: As a fan, 2013 Manchester United vs. Real Madrid UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match. As a working event, 2001 Daytona 500.
- If my colleagues were asked to describe me, they would say I: Don’t take myself too seriously, but I get stuff done.
