ESPN, Fox Sports Top Sports Emmy Awards; CBS Sports’ The Masters Wins Key Tech Categories

Fox's Super Bowl LIV bests all events with four awards

By Jason Dachman
Wednesday, August 12, 2020 - 10:46 am
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It was fitting that, on a night unlike any other, CBS Sports’ coverage of The Masters would take home three of the top prizes at the Sports Emmy Awards, earning statues for Outstanding Live Sports Special, Outstanding Technical Team Remote, and the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award. The ceremony, held virtually for the first time ever because of the pandemic, saw ESPN lead all networks with eight Emmys, followed by Fox Sports with seven, including four for its Super Bowl LIV coverage.

The 41st Sports Emmys ceremony, held virtually because of the pandemic, was hosted by NBC News’ Craig Melvin (left) and Fox Sports’ Lindsay Czarniak from their home.

Just behind ESPN and Fox were CBS Sports and HBO Sports with five apiece, Turner Sports with four, MLB Network and NBC Sports Group with three, and NFL Network with two. Netflix, Red Bull TV, UFC, and YouTube earned one apiece.

Super Bowl LIV led the way for all individual programs with four wins, followed by CBS’s The Masters coverage and HBO’s 24/7 with three. ESPN’s E:60, NFL coverage, and SC Featured, Fox Sports 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and NFL Network’s NFL 100 received two apiece.

Although Fox Sports’ Super Bowl LIV took the most awards of any single program, CBS’s coverage of The Masters dominated the live-production and technical categories.

“What an incredible win for CBS,” said CBS Sports Executive Producer/SVP, Production, Harold Bryant, accepting the final award of the night, for Outstanding Live Sports Special. “Thank you to this production team on golf. This is an all-star group, and you guys do an incredible job. You put so many long hours and hard work into it, and you put on a special broadcast. Thank you to our operations team. You guys make us look great. And thank you to my core group, all the guys and women behind the scenes; you guys are phenomenal. And thank you to the folks at Augusta for your partnership.”

Said CBS Sports EVP, Operations and Engineering, Patty Power in accepting the award for Outstanding Technical Team Remote, “This is just an amazing team effort at one of the biggest and most complicated shows we do. Thank you most of all to my tremendous CBS Sports operations and engineering team. You guys are awesome. You amaze and inspire all of us as you continue to set the gold standard in our industry. I’m just so proud of all of you. So thank you again.”

Fox Sports received the Outstanding Technical Team Studio statue for its 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup efforts in France.

“This is such a great award to win, and I know how much work went into it,” said Fox Sports SVP, Technical and Field Operations, Mike Davies. “The architects of what happened in France were [VP, Field Operations and Engineering,] Kevin Callahan and [VP, World Cup Operations,] Rod Conti. They literally spent months in Paris working out a location that proved to be incredibly challenging. From the weather to historic museum challenges, to riots and insurrection, these guys persevered. But they didn’t do so without a lot of help [from the rest of the Fox Sports team]. So thank you. It’s an amazing opportunity for these guys to hopefully get back and do what they do best.”

In addition to three wins for The Masters, CBS also won the Outstanding Live Sports Series category for its NFL on CBS coverage and was a co-winner with Turner Sports for Outstanding Playoff Coverage with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

“On behalf of the entire CBS Sports team as well as our partners at Turner Sports, we want to thank the voters for this great honor,” said CBS Sports VP, Remote Production, Steve Karasik in accepting the Playoff Coverage award. “There’s no sporting event in the world that matches the excitement and intensity of the tournament, and we’re happy to bring every game, buzzer-beater, and moment to all the viewers at home. We obviously didn’t have an NCAA Men’s Tournament this year, but we’re hopefully looking forward to bringing all the shining moments to our viewers next March, for some more madness. On behalf of all the men and women of Turner Sports and CBS Sports, thanks again. This is a huge honor.”

Two of the usual studio-production heavyweights won the studio-show categories. Turner Sports’ Inside the NBA once again received the award for Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly; MLB Network’s MLB Tonight took home the award for Daily. NFL Networks’ NFL 100 All-Time Team won for Outstanding Studio Show – Limited Run.

Two other key live-production categories saw NFL on ESPN win for Outstanding Live Graphic Design and NASCAR on NBC win for Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound.

A trio of ultra-unique offerings won the multi-platform categories this year. Red Bull TV’s virtual production of the Red Bull Rampage won for Outstanding Digital Innovation; MLB Network’s #SandlotToTheShow, Outstanding Social TV Experience; and NFL Networks’ NFL 100 Greatest & All-Time Team, Outstanding Trans-Media Sports Coverage.

In its first year of existence, the Outstanding Esports Coverage category was won by YouTube/Riot Games for coverage of the League of Legends World Final.

Hosted by Fox Sports’ Lindsay Czarniak and NBC News’ Craig Melvin, the 41st Sports Emmy Awards also honored CBS Sports’ Lesley Visser with the Lifetime Achievement Award and presented the Jim McKay Memorial Scholarship to Jonathan Burkhart of Saint Clairsville High School, St. Clairsville, OH.

Honorees were announced in more than 35 categories during the livestream. CLICK HERE to watch the full ceremony. Check out the full list of winners below:

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL

The Masters
CBS

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SERIES

NFL on CBS
CBS

OUTSTANDING PLAYOFF COVERAGE

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
TBS/CBS/TNT/truTV

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE

UFC Fight Flashback, Khabib vs. McGregor
UFC Fight Pass

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL OR SERIES

24/7, Kelly Slater
HBO

OUTSTANDING ESPORTS COVERAGE

League of Legends World Final
YouTube/Riot Games

OUTSTANDING SHORT SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

E: 60, Hilinski’s Hope
ESPN

OUTSTANDING LONG SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali Part I, [Sutter Road Picture Company/Fuqua Films/SpringHill Entertainment]
HBO

OUTSTANDING SERIALIZED SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Last Chance U [Condé Nast Entertainment/Endgame Entertainment/One Potato Productions]
Netflix

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY

Inside the NBA
TNT

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – DAILY

MLB Tonight
MLB Network

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – LIMITED RUN

NFL 100 All-Time Team
NFL Network/NFL Films

OUTSTANDING SPORTS NEWS/FEATURE ANTHOLOGY

SC Featured
ESPNews

OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM

E: 60, The Squad: 44 Years, 41 Allegations
ESPN

OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE

NCAA Golf Championships, Life Without Katie: The Jason Enloe Story
Golf Channel

OUTSTANDING LONG FEATURE

SC Featured, Taquarius Wair: Unstoppable
ESPN

OUTSTANDING OPEN/TEASE

Super Bowl LIV, Next 100
Fox/[72andSunny/Prettybird]

OUTSTANDING TRANS-MEDIA SPORTS COVERAGE

NFL 100 Greatest & All-Time Team
NFL Network

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL INNOVATION

Red Bull Rampage, Virtual Production
Red Bull TV

OUTSTANDING SOCIAL TV EXPERIENCE

#SandlotToTheShow
MLB Network

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – STUDIO HOST

Ernie Johnson
TNT

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – PLAY-BY-PLAY

Mike Emrick
NBC/NBCSN

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – STUDIO ANALYST

Charles Barkley
TNT

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – SPORTS EVENT ANALYST

Kirk Herbstreit
ESPN/ABC

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – SPORTS REPORTER

Tom Verducci
Fox/MLB Network

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE

The Masters
CBS/CBS Sports Network

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO

2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Fox/FS1

OUTSTANDING CAMERA WORK

24/7, Kelly Slater
HBO

OUTSTANDING EDITING – SHORT FORM

Super Bowl LIV, Next 100
Fox/[72andSunny/Work Editorial]

OUTSTANDING EDITING – LONG FORM

Any One of Us
HBO/Red Bull Films

THE DICK SCHAAP OUTSTANDING WRITING AWARD

24/7, Kelly Slater
HBO

OUTSTANDING MUSIC DIRECTION

Jimmy V Classic, Don’t Give Up on Me
ESPN

OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT AUDIO/SOUND

NASCAR on NBC
NBC/NBCSN

OUTSTANDING POST-PRODUCED AUDIO/SOUND

Super Bowl LIV, Next 100
Fox/[72andSunny/LIME Studios]

OUTSTANDING LIVE GRAPHIC DESIGN

NFL on ESPN
ESPN

OUTSTANDING POST-PRODUCED GRAPHIC DESIGN