Last night’s Sports Emmys delivered a mix of old blood, surprises and first-timers, anchored by a Lifetime Achievement tribute to Ted Turner, who received a standing ovation.
ESPN walked away with wins that included Studio Show (tie) for College Gameday Football, Sports Documentary Series for ESPN’s 30 for 30, Sports Journalism for E: 60 – Children of the Ring, Live Event Graphic Design for X Games, Studio Show in Spanish with a tie between Nacion ESPN and SportsCenter ESPN as well as Short Feature for SportsCenter – Richie Parker: Drive.
HBO’s Hard Knocks hit a triple with wins in Editing, Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics and Post-Produced Audio. “I wanna thank Hard Knocks for one of the greatest nights in Cincinnati Bengals history,” said former Bengal and fellow winner Cris Collinsworth. 24/7 Red Wings/Maple Leafs: Road to the NHL Winter Classic and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel each captured one award as well.
NBC Sports Group took a quartet of trophies for personality categories, with Bob Costas winning Sports Personality / Studio Host (with MLB Network), Collinsworth nabbing Sports Personality / Sports Event Analyst, Mike Emrick earning Sports Personality Play-by-Play and Michele Tafoya winning the Emmy for Sports Reporter. The company also earned kudos for Live Sports Series for Sunday Night Football, which also won Production Design/Art Direction. NBCSN scored the George Wensel Technical Achievement Emmy for The Premier League and Promotional Announcement – Episodic for NHL on NBCSN – Wednesday Night Rivalry.
Telemundo took the award for Personality in Spanish for Andres Cantor as well as Live Coverage in Spanish for Rumbo Al Mundial Costa Rica vs. Mexico.
FOX Sports’ coverage of The 109th World Series – Red Sox vs. Cardinals went home with a win for Live Sports Special. The company’s Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci drew a tie and won for Sports Personality – Studio Analyst with MLB Network. In addition, FOX Sports got the win for Playoff Coverage for the American League Championship Series – Red Sox vs. Tigers, Live Event Audio/Sound for MLB on FOX and Technical Team Remote for NASCAR on FOX.
Turner Sports walked home a winner with Inside the NBA winning Studio Show in a tie, Inside The NBA on TNT: Playoff garnering the Emmy for Studio Show – Daily, and the NBA Playoffs on TNT winning Studio Design/Art Direction. Meanwhile, NBA TV won Sports Documentary for The Doctor.
In addition to the previous Awards, MLB Network walked away with awards for MLB Tonight for Technical Team Studio and Post-Produced Graphic Design.
Showtime was a two-time winner, getting nods in Long Feature for 60 Minutes Sports as well as Edited Sports Event Coverage for All Access – Mayweather vs. Canelo Epilogue.
CBS Sports drew the award for Open/Tease for Super Bowl XLVII – We Will Rock You Remix.
The New Approaches categories delivered wins to the Official App of The 34th America’s Cup for Coverage, Sports Illustrated’s A Boy Helps a Town Heal for Sports Programming, and a tie on Programming Short Format for NFL Media for JFK: The Untold NFL History of That Day in Dallas and NFL UP!
NFL Network also scored The Dick Schaap Outstanding Writing Emmy for NFL Films Presents Yours Truly, Dr. Z and Promotional Announcement Institutional for the Leon Sandcastle campaign.
Congrats to everyone!