From the MLB All-Star Game, Washington, D.C.
Since taking over as ESPN president nearly five months ago, Jimmy Pitaro has been making nice with his network’s league partners — two of his priorities were to repair ESPN’s NFL relationship and bolster its MLB relationship.
But when MLB staged its All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., last week, Pitaro was thousands of miles away, attending his company’s ESPY awards in Los Angeles. Other top ESPN executives — including Ed Erhardt, global sales and marketing president, and executive vice presidents Justin Connolly, Burke Magnus and Connor Schell — also decided to stay away from the All-Star festivities in the nation’s capital.
In the past, MLB executives would complain when top ESPN executives skipped the MLB All-Star Game in favor of the ESPYs, the awards show that is held the following night. That doesn’t appear to be the case this year. Pitaro already has developed a good relationship with MLB’s brass. He had dinner with Commissioner Rob Manfred earlier this month and recently called Tony Petitti, MLB’s deputy commissioner of business, to say he would not be making the trip to D.C.
A lifelong Yankees fan, Pitaro has been described as possibly the biggest baseball supporter ESPN has ever had in its top office.
It’s not as though ESPN completely ignored the All-Star Game. Several top executives were in D.C. last week, including Norby Williamson, executive vice president and executive editor of studio production, and senior vice presidents Traug Keller, Scott Guglielmino and Mark Gross.
ESPN has the rights to Monday night’s Home Run Derby. But the All-Star Game is seen as more of a Fox Sports property. After all, Fox has carried it since 1996.
Eric Shanks, president, COO and executive producer of Fox Sports, missed last week’s game in D.C., opting for a post-World Cup vacation. But Fox was well represented by News Corp. Co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch, 21st Century Fox President Peter Rice and Mark Silverman, Fox Sports president of national networks.
