Daneysse Daniels, Emmy-Winning Production Manager and Beloved Teammate at TNT Sports, ESPN, and FOX Sports, Passes Away at 35

The Dallas native and Washington State grad was known as a warm, trusted leader

The sports-production community is mourning the passing of Daneysse Daniels, an Emmy Award–winning production manager whose work spanned many of the industry’s largest live events. Daniels, 35, built a decade-long career across ESPN, TNT Sports, and FOX Sports, contributing to hundreds of high-profile remote productions each year and becoming a respected operations leader behind the scenes.

Daniels served most recently with ESPN, where over the past nine years she assisted Production Operations Management on major remote productions, including Monday Night Football, multiple College Football National Championships, Super Bowl LI, LII, LVI, and LVII, the 2022 and 2023 Pro Bowl Games, and the NFL Draft.

She also spent four years at TNT Sports (2021–25), overseeing and managing live programming for TNT’s linear remote game coverage. She served as the primary point of contact for remote communications across NHL on TNT and college basketball productions, while also supporting NBA on TNT, NCAA March Madness and the Final Four, and MLB coverage.

News of her passing prompted tributes from across the sports-television landscape.

We lost a member of our TNT family this week, Daneysse Daniels passed away at 35.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Daneysse’s friends and family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aia6FvmSrB

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) November 13, 2025

“Daneysse was doing what she loved in life: working in television,” Liam McHugh, studio host for the NHL on TNT, said on-air Wednesday night. “[It] was something she studied and worked hard to be a part of. She’ll be greatly missed.”

“‘DVD’ was many things, to many people: a passionate TV person, a loving Auntie, a great friend, a lover of margaritas and extra guacamole,” wrote Paul Hemming, Utah Mammoth game director and former NHL on TNT lead game director. “To me, she was an amazing teammate who always had my back no matter the circumstances. She always took care of ‘her crew’, whatever we needed, Daneysse always made it happen.”

Daniels (second from right) with TNT Sports colleagues at the 2025 NHL Winter Classic earlier this year.

Daniels began her career at FOX Sports in Los Angeles, joining the company as a production assistant in 2013 and climbing to the role of Manager, Production. In that position, she managed logistics, personnel, and operational needs for UFC studio shows and remote events, contributing to more than 500 broadcasts annually. She also handled remote-production operations for NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS telecasts with FOX Sports/Bally Sports Ohio (now FanDuel Sports Network Ohio).

Across her career, she contributed to the delivery of some of the sports industry’s most visible events, including the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL Winter Classic, NBA All-Star, NCAA March Madness, and UFC International Fight Week. Daniels’ colleagues across networks and production teams describe her as a rising leader whose combination of technical skill, operational command, and personal warmth made her a trusted presence on the road and in the compound.

Further memorial details were not immediately available.