The Sports Emmys winners were announced on Tuesday night in a ceremony that is hardly watched (it only streams on the Emmys website) but matters a lot in the industry.
Just ask the cast of The Dan Patrick Show, who have been campaigning for years for the “Outstanding Studio Show—Daily” category and never won.
From the academy giving ESPN’s Nick Saban another trophy to yet another win for TNT’s Charles Barkley, the results are a great snapshot of what mattered in sports media last year. Here are our biggest takeaways from the 46th annual Sports Emmys:
Joe Davis became the youngest play-by-play winner since Joe Buck in 2001
There is some symmetry to Davis’ win in the “Outstanding Personality – Play-By-Play” category this year. Davis is the youngest to win the award since his Fox predecessor. Buck won in 2001 for calling his fifth World Series at age 32, while Davis now gets the honor after calling his third World Series at age 37.
The breakout moment for Davis came after Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run in Game 1 when he harkened back to Vin Scully’s call of Kirk Gibson’s homer in the 1988 World Series.
Davis also rose to Fox’s No. 2 NFL team in a high-profile partnership with the demoted Greg Olsen. The pair did not get to call a playoff game, but they earned high praise throughout the season, fair or not, basically for not being the Kevin Burkhardt-Tom Brady booth.
You could argue that Davis, who was also the lead Los Angeles Dodgers announcer on Spectrum SportsNet during the team’s potential dynasty, is one of the most prolific broadcasters in America.
‘NFL Live’ wins first award for Outstanding Studio Show
The long-running ESPN NFL studio show, popularized on ESPN2 by Trey Wingo, John Clayton, and Chris Mortensen, is finally getting its due at the Sports Emmys. The program had not been nominated since 2015 but won over The Dan Patrick Show, two MLB Network programs, Good Morning Football, and Pardon the Interruption.
ESPN overhauled NFL Live in 2020 with younger, more viral talent, and it has worked out well for the network. Five years later, that crew is still grooving, with Laura Rutledge anchoring and a regular cast that includes Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Mina Kimes, and holdover Ryan Clark.
The show regularly goes viral for silly behind-the-scenes moments with its hosts and deep-dive football discussions.
Another win for Peyton Manning…
The first time the Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback won a Sports Emmy for his work on the ManningCast, it felt like a nod to the Mannings’ unique approach and Peyton’s ability to break through in a new format.
This time around, it almost feels like kissing up to the elder Manning brother. Sure, the ManningCast brought in Bill Belichick for weekly hits and dialed in more on the football talk over the celebrity interviews this year. The show also got its first playoff game. But was Peyton even the top NFL game analyst this year calling 11 games on an alt-cast?
It’s a stacked crowd featuring fellow ESPNer Troy Aikman, Fox’s Greg Olsen, MLB analyst John Smoltz, and college hoops legend (and four-time winner) Bill Raftery. Without a signature moment or a full workload, rival analysts probably look sideways at Manning for this win.
Meadowlark Media gets a documentary win
This one is for the sports media nerds. Earlier this month, co-founder and CEO John Skipper left Meadowlark Media. At that time, most assumed the company would bail on its documentary division, which was Skipper’s expertise. While fellow cofounder Dan Le Batard tried to put those concerns to bed in a social media statement after Skipper’s departure, questions remain.
That makes it more ironic that Meadowlark would win the “Outstanding Documentary Series” Sports Emmy for its Netflix project covering the 2024 Boston Red Sox comeback.
Other notable wins
Tracy Wolfson, Outstanding Personality – Sideline Reporter
The CBS Sports star has been among the top game reporters in the country for years but never nabbed a Sports Emmy until last year. Now, she is going back-to-back after a year that saw her again do a stellar job broadcasting the Final Four and AFC playoffs. Her genuine relationships with key figures in each sport, including Dan Hurley, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen, deliver great moments in big spots without fail.
College GameDay, Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly
The beloved traveling college football program is back on the mountaintop in Saban’s first season in the cast. It had not won since 2018, but between Saban’s brilliant arrival and the growing love for Pat McAfee on the trail, GameDay has rediscovered its mojo. Even the recently hired Pete Thamel deserves love for his stellar work in the mold of Erin Andrews and Maria Taylor. Charged by the arrival of the College Football Playoff on ESPN networks, this is the definitive weekly review of the country’s second-biggest sport.
Next season figures to be another great one and will begin with the retirement of Lee Corso.
Lady Gaga (and Fox Sports), Outstanding Music Direction
This was a late add to the day-long broadcast of Super Bowl LIX, after the nearby terrorist attack at the Sugar Bowl a month prior. The pop singer, seated at a piano, played her ballad “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, as a tribute to the victims of the attack.
Gaga wins the Sports Emmy as a producer, adding to her wide-ranging trophy case across entertainment.