
42nd Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Tops Among the Networks, Super Bowl LV Leads All Programs By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 - 4:21 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In a year of sports production unlike any other, ESPN led all network groups with 54 nominations, and CBS Sports' presentation of Super Bowl LV topped all individual programs with 11 nods in the 42nd Annual Sports Emmy Awards nominations. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) unveiled the nominees today, and the ceremony will be live-streamed at Watch.TheEmmys.TV on June 8 at 8 p.m. ET.
ESPN's 54 nods were the most of any network group, followed by Fox Sports (with 31), NFL Media (28), NBC Sports Group (25), CBS Sports (24), Turner Sports (20), HBO (13), MLB Network (10), Netflix (9), RBTV and Univision (5 each), and YouTube, Apple TV , and Showtime (3 each).
CBS's Super Bowl LV earned the most nominations of any program, while NFL Network's NFL 360 had a breakout year with nine nods and ESPN's E:60 had seven. Four nominations apiece went to Fos NASCAR, Fox NFL Sunday, NFL Network's NFL Total Access, HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, Netflix's Rising Phoenix, and ESPN's SC Featured. Turner's 2020 NBA All-Star Game on TNT, Fox NFL, Apple TV 's Greatness Code, Turner's Inside the NBA, MLB Network's MLB Tonight, RBTV's The Old World - A Mindtrip Through Europe, and ESPN's The Undefeated Presents each earned three nominations.
Today, we honor the talented professionals who, during this unprecedented time of a worldwide pandemic, still found ways to inform, entertain, and excite the passionate fan base that makes up the sports universe, said NATAS President/CEO Adam Sharp in the announcement. The challenges they have overcome and this inspiring and diverse set of nominees are nothing short of remarkable.
In a year when sports production literally ground to a halt, added Justine Gubar, executive director, Sports Emmy Awards, NATAS, we received a record number of submissions. From innovative solutions to the constraints of production during the pandemic to the superb storytelling that confronted the social-justice issues of our times, we are so proud of what our nominees were able to achieve. I'm particularly excited about the debut of our Outstanding Sports Personality - Emerging On-Air Talent category, which welcomes five new sports personalities into the Emmy-nominee family.
On the technology side, the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award will go to one of the five nominees: Fox NASCAR's Racing Drone, Fox NFL's Megalodon, MLB Network Showcase's Statcast 3D, MLB Postseason on TBS's Base Cam, or NBC's HDR LUTs on Notre Dame Football.
In the Outstanding Technical Team Event category, CBS earned nominations for its Masters and Super Bowl LV coverage, ESPN was nominated for its College Football Playoff National Championship, Fox for its NASCAR coverage, and ESPN/TNT/NBA for the NBA Bubble operation.
On the Outstanding Technical Team Studio side, nods went to the 2020 NFL Draft by ESPN/ABC/NFL Network, ESPN's College GameDay, Fox's NASCAR coverage, MLB Network's MLB Tonight, and The Super Bowl Today on CBS.
Also of note in the live-event categories, Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound nominations went to NBC's NASCAR coverage and Sunday Night Football, Fox MLB, The NFL on CBS, and ESPN's US Open tennis coverage. In addition, the award for Outstanding Live Graphic Design will g to one of the following: ESPN's College Football, Fox NFL, MLB Networks' MLB Tonight (Welcome Home), Nickelodeon/CBS's NFC Wild Card Game, or CBS's Super Bowl LV.
Here is a full list of the nominees:
OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL
2020 NBA All-Star Game on TNT - TNT
The 116th World Series (Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers) - FOX
The 146th Kentucky Derby - NBC
The Match on TNT, Champions for Charity - TNT
Super Bowl LV (Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - CBS
OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SERIES
FOX NASCAR - FOX/FS1
FOX NFL - FOX/NFL Network
NFL on CBS - CBS
PGA Tour on CBS - CBS
Sunday Night Football - NBC
OUTSTANDING PLAYOFF COVERAGE
2020 NBA Playoffs on TNT - TNT
AFC Playoffs - CBS
NASCAR Playoffs on NBC - NBC/NBCSN
NFC Wild Card Game (Chicago Bears vs. New Orleans Saints) - Nickelodeon/CBS Sports
Sunday Night Football: Playoffs - NBC/Peacock
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM EVENT
College Football Playoff National Championship (Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide) - ESPN
FOX NASCAR - FOX/FS1
The Masters - CBS
NBA Bubble - ESPN/TNT/NBA
Super Bowl LV (Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - CBS
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO
2020 NFL Draft - ESPN/ABC/NFL Network
College GameDay - ESPN
FOX NASCAR - FOX/FS1
MLB Tonight - MLB Network
The Super Bowl Today - CBS
THE GEORGE WENSEL TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
FOX NASCAR, The Racing Drone - FOX/FS1
FOX NFL, Megalodon - FOX
MLB Network Showcase, Statcast 3D - MLB Network
MLB Postseason on TBS, Base Cam - TBS
Notre Dame Football, NBC HDR LUTs - NBC
OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE
America's Game: The 2019 Kansas City Chiefs - NFL Network/NFL Films
Hey Rookie: Welcome To The NFL: 2020 NFL Draft - ESPN/NFL Films
NFL Game Day All-Access, Super Bowl LV - NFL Network/NFL Films
NHL on NBC, WIRED: Stadium Series - Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche - NBCSN
UFC The Walk, McGregor vs. Cowboy - UFC Fight Pass/UFC
OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL
Inside the NBA, Kobe Bryant Memorial - TNT
NFL 360, Black History Month - NFL Network
NFL 360, Women in Football - NFL Network
SC Presents: 2020 - Heroes, History and Hope - ESPN
The Undefeated Presents, The Stop - Living, Driving and Dying While Black - ESPN
OUTSTANDING EDITED S
North America Stories
19/06/2026
Split compound eases operational challenges at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club...
19/06/2026
North Carolina, Oklahoma meet in the best-of-three Finals as ESPN leans into spe...
19/06/2026
Data from May shows seasonal outdoor trends triggers lower viewing
Warsaw, Pola...
19/06/2026
Buttons is best control system in the rAVe Best of Infocomm Awards 2026...
19/06/2026
Mavis Studio Makes iPad Production More Powerful
Brie Clayton June 19, 2026
0 Comments
InfoComm update brings new NDI Preview, PTZ control, USB audio ...
19/06/2026
Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Tackles Post with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 19, 2026
0 Comments
New narrative projects rely on DaVinci Reso...
19/06/2026
How to Run the Original 1993 After Effects
Graham Quince June 19, 2026
0 Comments
How to the original After Effects v1 in an emulator, and you don'...
19/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/06/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, has announced that its entire Standards catalog is now freely available to the global medi...
19/06/2026
nsign, the digital signage SaaS platform built around its core principle of Simplify Complexity, has announced a partnership with BrightSign , expanding the dep...
19/06/2026
Visual Productions announces the availability of its new RdmRelay2 at InfoComm 2026 (ACT Entertainment, Booth N6813). A networked, four-channel DMX relay, it is...
19/06/2026
Adobe Unveils Major Expansion of Creative Agent Across Firefly and Creative Clou...
19/06/2026
Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Innovates Storytelling with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton June 18, 2026
0 Comments
Two new narrative short films c...
19/06/2026
Lab studies explain how new cancer drug works as it enters patient testing Immunologists at Scripps Research show how a new, experimental drug revives immune ce...
18/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
18/06/2026
PTZOptics has unveiled new Visual Reasoning demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 (Boo...
18/06/2026
IBC2026 will take place at the RAI Amsterdam from September 11-14, bringing toge...
18/06/2026
InfoComm 2026 held its first-ever Media Day on June 17, providing journalists an...
18/06/2026
FOR-A America has announced a Trade Agreements Act (TAA)-compliant LED display solution combining Alfalite's Litepix LED displays and Brompton Technology...
18/06/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...
18/06/2026
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and TMRW Sports have an...
18/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has unveiled Io Xpand, a Thunderbolt 5-enabled PCIe expansion ...
18/06/2026
ESPN has announced its coverage plans for the 30th anniversary of the WNBA's...
18/06/2026
FOX Sports' Big Noon Kickoff will broadcast live from Wembley Stadium in Lon...
18/06/2026
InfoComm 2026 opened on Wednesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, bringing t...
18/06/2026
As media companies look to deliver more live, VOD, and snackable sports content ...
18/06/2026
Top L-R: Take Me Home, The Lake
Bottom L-R: TheyDream, Union County
Free Summer Screening Series Announced
Screenings for the Local Utah Community at...
18/06/2026
The average daily TV screen time in May was 3 hours and 36 minutes, marking a clear decrease of 15 minutes compared to April. This trend proved to be much stron...
18/06/2026
Integration embeds Gracenote content intelligence, including contextual segments...
18/06/2026
AJA Video Systems unveiled Io Xpand, a high-performance Thunderbolt 5-enabled PCIe expansion chassis for AJA KONA and Corvid video and audio I/O cards. As dema...
18/06/2026
New NVRT-driven workflow enables on-demand traffic mirroring and guided troubleshooting for AV teams, integrators, and support organizations ahead of InfoComm 2...
18/06/2026
At InfoComm 2026, Mavis announced a major update to Mavis Studio, its live production app for the iPad, with new features designed to make professional AV produ...
18/06/2026
Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company
Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtualized broadband solutions, today a...
18/06/2026
ACT Entertainment and NETGEAR have announced a strategic partnership that establishes verified interoperability between NETGEAR Switches and key technologies fr...
18/06/2026
IBC2026 is set to bring the global media, entertainment and technology community together at the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September, enabling industry players f...
18/06/2026
Pliant Technologies is proud to introduce CrewCom Flex , the world's first frameless matrix intercom system and the only complete matrix IP-based intercom s...
18/06/2026
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced that a new cohort of members has joined the strategic initiative: ActionStreamer, Antigravity, Creative Artists Agen...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Linda May Han Oh Receives Guggenheim Fellowship The Berklee professor, bassist, and composer will use the fellowship to debut Dreams of Knowing, an interdisci...
18/06/2026
In a consequential grid infrastructure decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory C...
18/06/2026
Play favorite titles from popular game libraries, keep progress synced and jump ...
18/06/2026
The digital era gave the advertising and marketing industry speed; the AI era is giving it autonomous operations.
For companies building next-generation techn...
17/06/2026
EVS has announced it has received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability performance, ranking among the top 5% of companies globally in the Technology/Mid-S...
17/06/2026
Chyron has released Weather 2.4, an update to its weather suite for broadcasters and meteorologists. The release focuses on enhancements to the DataFlow module,...
17/06/2026
VSiN, The Sports Betting Network, has announced the launch of Best Bets TV, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel. The 24/7 channel is currently avail...
17/06/2026
DAZN's Team Whistle and Snap Inc. have announced a creator program centered ...