With a life-long affinity for startups and fixer-uppers, Geoffrey Mason has been involved with the launch or re-launch of dozens of networks, productions, and individual careers. One of sports television\u2019s most accomplished executives, he has more than 40 years of domestic and international production experience, including seven Olympic Games, six World Cups, and multiple America\u2019s Cup races. The consummate freelancer, Mason has worked for ABC, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and NFL Network over five decades in the business, mentoring hundreds of co-workers along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incredible thing about Geoffrey is how he has managed to remain relevant through so many decades of sports television,\u201d says Howard Katz, SVP of broadcasting for the NFL. \u201cGeoff brings an incredible passion and commitment to every project he works on. He also loves teaching young people and sharing his incredible knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason began his career in Marblehead, MA, covering the yachting beat for the Boston Herald<\/i>. A 1963 graduate of Duke University, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, as was ABC Sports VP of Production Chuck Howard, who put him on a list of available runners. In January 1967, while still on Navy shore duty, Mason drove to Las Vegas to score the golf Tournament of Champions, the first of a dozen productions he worked, from track and field meets to Wide World of Sports<\/i> events.<\/p>\n
That September, Mason joined ABC Sports full-time as a production assistant. After lending his talents to everything from football and tennis to five Olympic Games, he moved to Europe. In 1976, he opened ABC\u2019s full-time production office in Paris, but, four months later, NBC Sports made him an offer he could not refuse. He abruptly moved 10 blocks away to open NBC Sports\u2019 first Paris office.
\nIn 1981, Mason returned to NBC Sports in New York as executive vice president, but, soon thereafter, his life collapsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn September of 1983, I checked myself into the Betty Ford Center. I was a helplessly addicted alcoholic,\u201d he says. \u201cNBC was very supportive, and, by the end of 1983, I was starting to get my life back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Says ABC Sports producer\/director Doug Wilson, \u201cNo one else comes to mind that bottomed out and then came back and established himself as one of the leaders in the country \u2014 if not the world \u2014 in sports television. His longevity in this business and his contributions to the business speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
After leaving Betty Ford, where, until last month, he was the ranking member on the board of directors, Mason returned to NBC but soon began to spread his wings. He traveled to Fremantle, Australia, to produce the 1986 America\u2019s Cup race; flew to Calgary, AB, to serve as coordinating producer of the 1988 Winter Olympics for ABC Sports; and then returned to ABC Sports as executive producer.
\n\u201cIn 1991, I left because I got bored,\u201d he says. \u201cI became an independent contractor, out there doing my own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the next five years, Mason directed the world feed for the America\u2019s Cup, headed up the organizing committee\u2019s broadcast operation at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, helped Fox Sports Chairman\/CEO David Hill launch the network\u2019s NFL studio show, and consulted for virtual-graphics supplier PVI. In 1996, Mason became executive producer of ESPN International, where he oversaw the 1998 World Cup in France, the first official joint production between ABC Sports and ESPN.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking with Geoff Mason is a gift. He will teach you everything there is to know about television production, and he will freely offer you the most honest feedback you will ever hear. Geoff\u2019s legacy will live on through the countless people who have learned from him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u2014 Jodi Markley, ESPN SVP of Operations<\/p>\n
Between 2000 and 2010, Mason headed up two America\u2019s Cup productions in New Zealand, served as executive producer of ESPN Regional Television, coordinated the production of three FIFA World Cups, and was integral to the launch of the NFL Network, among other endeavors. He currently serves as senior production specialist for ESPN as well as head of production planning for FIFA World Cup soccer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no fatigue in that man,\u201d says sportscaster Lesley Visser. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t felled by alcoholism or the ups and downs of the business. He\u2019s always there, with ideas and a sense of humor. He\u2019s really central to a lot of people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason has worked for a half dozen networks over five decades in the business, but his heart lies with ABC Sports, for which he helped create an online alumni group and works to keep the family together.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s like the ABC Sports family mentor,\u201d says ABC Sports analyst Donna De Varona. \u201cIf anybody is ever in trouble, Geoff will be there.\u201d<\/p>\nMason has been in the truck for plenty of iconic sports moments, from the Borg-McEnroe epic final at Wimbledon in 1980, to Franz Klammer\u2019s downhill gold in the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, to the terrorist murders at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the 1989 earthquake-interrupted World Series in San Francisco. Of all his accomplishments, though, he takes the most pride in ensuring that other people succeed, and few of his co-workers have ever forgotten that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the great professionals in the history of the business,\u201d says ABC\/NBC producer\/director Don Ohlmeyer. \u201cHe has a repertoire of expertise that very few people in American broadcasting approach, and he\u2019s also a man with considerable compassion. He has done an awful lot in terms of straightening out the personal lives of people in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Visser adds, \u201cHe is a combination of courage, grace, and stamina. For someone to have lasted at such a respected level over more than five decades is really a tribute to who he is.\u201d
\nMason and his wife, Chris, reside in the Naples, FL, area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":799,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[24],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductees\/449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductees"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/inductees"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}