Sports Business Awards: ESPN Wins Best In Sports Television

ESPN took home Sports Business Award honors for Best in Sports Television, its second award of the night. ESPN was honored for a year that saw the network pull in a record-high cable TV audience to the College Football Playoff and record high audiences to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Scheduling Burke Magnus accepted the award, saying that it represented the hard work from ESPN’s 7,000 employees. He quoted former ESPN President George Bodenheimer by saying, “The culture at ESPN is our greatest advantage.” In addition to its record audiences around the CFP and World Cup, ESPN had a stellar year behind the camera. In May, it launched the $178M Digital Center 2 in Bristol, which allowed it to relaunch its “SportsCenter” franchise and breathe new life into its studio shows. Magnus said he was surprised and thought that SEC Network was going to win the award. “Mike Slive’s vision and his legacy is why the channel is so successful,” Magnus said.