The sports media was celebrated Monday night in New York City. The 44th annual Sports Emmys ceremony took place at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
NATAS President and CEO Adam Sharp acknowledged that the ceremony looked a little different. Out of respect for the WGA and their writers’ strike, many of the show’s scripted elements had been eliminated.
“The business challenges of the changing media landscape are like none we’ve seen before,” he told those in attendance. “And yet, the individual economics of making a career in our industry — starting out in our industry — can be impossible to square. Between these two realities, the generation coming up needs our industry to sow a field of common ground, not scorched earth.”
Awards were handed out in 47 categories. Among them was a lifetime achievement award, which was accepted by HBO’s Bryant Gumbel.
ESPN led the way amongst the networks, taking home thirteen trophies. Some of its biggest wins included Best Live Sports Series for Monday Night Football, Best Studio Analyst for Ryan Clark, Best Sports Event Analyst for Peyton Manning and Best Play-by-Play for Mike Breen.
FOX came in second amongst the networks with nine Sports Emmys. FOX NFL Sunday won Best Weekly Studio Show, but most of the network’s big wins were connected to coverage of the FIFA World Cup last fall.
The World Cup and the 2022 Winter Olympics were the big event winners. Coverage of the events netted three awards for FOX and NBC respectively.
A full list of winners can be seen here.
