Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [310]
MARK SHAPIRO:
When I first took the reins of programming and production, I saw two divisions that were lacking leadership. They lacked risk takers and decisive decision-making. Communication was weak, and in such a big place, that led to morale issues. We worked very hard to change dialogue and feedback—in both directions.
Employees needed to not just understand my vision, I also wanted them to fully appreciate their role inside of the journey to reach that vision. Toward that end, I felt it was my duty to inspire, push, and reward. But I was also committed to listening to them, and being open to their ideas. I took great pride in holding town meetings so I could listen directly to as many of them as possible, and I spent a lot of time on the road going to events and meeting crews to make sure everybody felt a part of it all, and they had a personal connection with me. This was the culture I felt I had to create in order to move this massive organization forward.
DAVID BERSON:
We were in the middle of a big run of programming acquisitions and knew we had to pass on some. We played close attention to where these properties would go. NFL rights ultimately went to NFL Network, PGA Tour to the Golf Channel, NHL to Versus, MLB’s second cable package to Turner, just to name a few. It played out very well for us, as they were scattered across several networks. And in the interim we acquired or re-upped NASCAR, World Cup, NBA, Big Ten, SEC, US Open [golf and tennis], BCS, and others.
GEORGE McNEILLY, Senior Director of Communications:
There was an incredible amount of excitement when we announced NASCAR would be returning. The sport and the network had truly missed one another, and we were prepared to devote unprecedented amounts of people and technology to the effort. NASCAR was great to us as well, offering access to the drivers and crews that was second to none. A lot of people have talked about how NASCAR and ESPN grew up together, but they had been away from each other for the previous six years, and during that time, ESPN had become more determined than ever to cover not just events but news from the sports world. And that went for rights holders too. After the deal was announced, I vividly remember telling NASCAR’s longtime head of corporate communications, Jim Hunter, that he should be careful what he wishes for, because the network would not play favorites with the league in terms of news gathering. And that’s exactly what happened. ESPN covered all parts of the NASCAR world, from attendance drops to suspensions and civil suits. No other sports network was as comprehensive.
CARL EDWARDS:
When they first said they were going to have an in-car reporter, they asked, would I be interested in doing that, and I thought, man, that’s a great idea. If a fan likes to watch, I love when they talk to drivers in the car, and so ESPN said, “Hey, we’re going to take this idea to a new level and have an official in-car, in-race reporter. And so I was on board for that along with Dale [Jr.] There was definitely some nervousness over the idea, but I wound up having a good time doing it, and Rusty [Wallace] and some of the on-air guys did as well.
FRED GAUDELLI:
ESPN had always been a place where you could have productive discourse. That’s what made the place—that people were free to disagree, free to argue, and free to make your point, but at the end of the day, whoever was in charge when they made the decision, everybody got on board. That was just the way it was. That was not the way Mark Shapiro operated.
Mark Shapiro left ESPN in October 2005 and went to work for Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and his Six Flags amusement parks.