NBC Sports Northwest Names Diane Penny Senior Vice President/General Manager

Sports media executive Diane Penny has been named SVP/GM, NBC Sports Northwest, effective immediately. She will manage the day-to-day operations of the network — including production, digital, ad sales, operations, and marketing — as well as the relationship with the Portland Trail Blazers. Penny will be based out of the NBC Sports Northwest office in Portland, OR. The announcement was made by Bill Bridgen, president/group leader, NBC Sports Regional Networks, to whom she will report.

“Diane is an accomplished sports media executive, and we look forward to her leadership to take NBC Sports Northwest to the next level,” says Bridgen.

Penny joins NBC Sports Regional Networks from Learfield, where she has served in various capacities since 2006. Most recently, she served as VP and General Manager of Beaver Sports Properties, where she oversaw the multi-media rights of the Oregon State University Athletics partnership in addition to recent work on strategy for Learfield IMG College. Previous roles included content oversight as the Vice President for digital and television, Advance Team leadership launching new national university and college partnerships and as General Manager of San Diego State’s Aztec Sports Properties.

Before joining Learfield, Penny served as a Senior Producer/Marketing/Advertising Director for OregonLive.com, and began her career in production positions at Good Morning America, Lifetime Television and CNN. She serves on the boards of the Oregon Sports Authority and Playworks Northwest. Penny graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, and received an MBA in Marketing.