Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Geoffrey Mason has died at the age of 85.
Mason is perhaps one of the most accomplished producers in all of sports broadcasting. He won 24 Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010. Mason worked for nearly every major live sports broadcaster in the United States across his 50-year career in the industry, including ABC, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and NFL Network.
His largest influence was arguably his production of international sporting events. Mason helped produce at least seven Olympic Games and six World Cups throughout his career, and launched full-time production offices for both ABC Sports and NBC Sports in Paris in 1976 and 1981 respectively.
Some will remember Mason as depicted in the 2024 film September 5, which chronicled the ABC Sports production team as they navigated coverage of the incident now known as the “Munich Massacre” in which a terrorist organization held 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage in the Olympic Village during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Mason served as a coordinating producer for ABC Sports during the event.
“Geoff Mason was a friend and a colleague, who had a storied career, touching just about every corner of the sports television industry,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “He had a passion for the business, which was evidenced in his prodigious work ethic, and the constant love and enthusiasm he exhibited on everything he worked on. He most certainly will be missed.”
In addition to Olympics and World Cups, Mason had his hands in almost every major sporting event in the world at one point or another. He contributed coverage to Super Bowls, World Series, horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Tour de France, the Indianapolis 500, major golf and tennis tournaments, and more.
Other than the 1972 Olympics, some of the most memorable events Mason helped produce include the 1980 Wimbledon men’s final between Björn Borg and John McEnroe, Game 3 of the 1989 World Series that was interrupted by an earthquake in San Francisco, and the highly regarded 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.