ESPN completed a sweep of the Sports Business Awards’ media categories by winning Best in Sports Media. This marks only the second time in the SBA’s eight-year history that the same company swept all three sports media awards; NBC Sports Group won all three last year. ESPN was honored for a year that saw it sign several big rights deals, including paying, with Turner, $24B over nine years for the NBA and paying, with Fox, $600M over eight years for MLS. ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Production John Wildhack accepted the award, praising other nominees in the category: Fox Sports, the NFL, NBC Sports and Turner Sports. “There’s never been a better time to be a sports fan,” he said. ESPN also was honored in the Sports Media category for its over-the-top deals, including being part of Dish Network’s Sling TV service, carrying the Cricket World Cup and collecting the OTT rights to MLS and the NBA. ESPN also pioneered the “Megacast” coverage around the College Football Playoff National Championship, which provided 12 different productions across its linear and digital channels. Wildhack gave a shout-out to ESPN’s employees. “It’s a great night for our people. We have the broadest, deepest and most diverse portfolio in the entire industry, and we’re proud of that.”
