
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
08/11/2025
College Hoops Preview 2025: TNT Sports Puts Multi-Feed Production Model Front an...
08/11/2025
While most station groups reported major declines in ad revenue in the third quarter, thanks to a steep decline in political advertising compared to a year ago,...
08/11/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen has announced that it has started releasing rankings of the most watched college football teams. In its first ranking, through the first 10 wee...
08/11/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives recently hosted an event at its headquarters here marking the soft launch of Astraeus, its new data services platform....
08/11/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company Director of Technology Peter Sockett was honored on October 29, 2025, with the Wade H. Hargrove Community Leadership Award from the...
08/11/2025
Berklee Artists Return to Perform at Boston Snowport Holiday Market The performances, a weekly highlight of the holiday market, are the result of a partnershi...
08/11/2025
Berklees 2026 Alumni Grammy Nominees: See the Full List From R&B and Americana to gospel, jazz, and game scoring, Berklee talent was recognized across a range...
07/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Athlos NYC CMO Kayla Green on Building the Brand of the Young Trac...
07/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Inside Wasabi's Egress-Fee-Free Cloud Offering with Mike Welts...
07/11/2025
PGA TOUR On the Road: How NEP Supports the TOUR's Spectacular Centralized Fa...
07/11/2025
Analysis: No matter the sport, women need a fair share of the biggest stages By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 - 10:19
Print Th...
07/11/2025
DAZN to stream first live football match on TikTok By George Bevir
Friday, November 7, 2025 - 09:55
Print This Story
DAZN has partnered with TikTok to str...
07/11/2025
SVG Sit Down: E1 Founder/CEO Rodi Basso on the Future of E1 Series and Bringing ...
07/11/2025
TNT Sports Puts Multi-Feed Production Model Front and Center for Largest College...
07/11/2025
Kahlil Joseph attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival BLKNWS: Terms & Condition...
07/11/2025
By Alexis Neophytides
For Jay and me, filmmaking wasn't just a response to crisis, it was a way through it.
I first met Jay in the summer of 2019. He was ...
07/11/2025
A Statement from L3Harris Chair and CEO Chris Kubasik on the Secretary of War...
07/11/2025
Fincons Group, a leading international business consulting and system integrator firm, releases its free white paper, Unlocking GenAI's Potential for Appli...
07/11/2025
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world's leading alliance of public service media, has awarded LiveU a five-year contract to deliver 24/7 live new...
07/11/2025
Atomos introduced Ninja TX GO, a new HDMI monitor-recorder that brings the performance of the acclaimed Ninja TX to an even wider community of filmmakers and cr...
07/11/2025
Visual Data Media Services, a global leader in content localisation and media supply chain services, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Sound ...
07/11/2025
When NBC Sports' Director of Remote Technical Operations for Motorsports Matt Hogencamp walks onto a NASCAR track, he's not thinking about lap times or ...
07/11/2025
When it comes to outfitting complex, multi-venue reality shows with flawless audio capture, few do it better than Headroom Productions. Based in Canada and led ...
07/11/2025
The European Handball Federation (EHF) will introduce Riedel's RefCam and Easy5G systems at the final weekend of the Men's EHF EURO 2026. The RefCam, a ...
07/11/2025
Leading systems integrator Broadcast Solutions is taking a forward-looking approach and expanding its management team. Effective from 1 November 2025, Stefan Br...
07/11/2025
Calrec is set to make a major impact at Tonmeistertagung 2025, featuring its cutting-edge broadcast audio solutions including the German debut of its brand new ...
07/11/2025
Grass Valley will showcase its latest advancements in live production, networking, playout, and media management at Inter BEE 2025, taking place November 19 21 ...
07/11/2025
IABM continues to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific region at Inter BEE 2025 with a dedicated IABM Hub including member pavilion, the IABM Industry Im...
07/11/2025
Following a successful IBC Amsterdam in September and NAB New York in October, Ikegami will demonstrate examples from its wide range of broadcast television pro...
07/11/2025
Pixellot, the largest streamer of global youth and amateur sports, today announced a five-year extension of its partnership with PlayOn Sports, the premier fan ...
07/11/2025
ES Media Group, which specialises in providing professional services to the broadcast industry, has announced the hire of industry heavyweight Brian Clark as Gl...
07/11/2025
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents Opera Adaptation of Little Women Marc Adamo's acclaimed opera brings Louisa May Alcott's beloved story to life...
07/11/2025
Amplify Berklee Gala Raises $1.4 Million for Berklee City Music Students This year's event featured performances from student K-pop group B-Girls, the Ove...
07/11/2025
NEW YORK DoubleVerify has launched a streaming TV offering designed to give advertisers greater transparency, control and efficiency across their streaming TV i...
07/11/2025
PARIS Ateme said it has been working with Spain-based multinational telco Telef nica to deploy a cloud-native media processing platform for next-generation vide...
07/11/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has announced it will hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 10, via a Zoom webinar at 11 a.m. ET....
07/11/2025
NEW YORK The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and TVB have released a study examining how local viewing is measured across television, mobile d...
07/11/2025
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. Altice USA announced it will change its corporate name to Optimum Communications Inc., effective Nov. 7. The company will cease trading u...
07/11/2025
As audiences consume media across more platforms than ever, advertisers are demanding outcome-driven, cross-platform campaign strategies. But fragmented and out...
07/11/2025
November 7th, 2025 Tribeca Festival Returns to Art Basel Miami Beach for Fourth Annual Edition
Two Nights of Live Performances at the Miami Beach Bandshell ...
07/11/2025
Back to All News
The Night My Dad Saved Christmas 2, Starring Santiago Segura, ...
06/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Athlos NYC CEO Kayla Green on Building the Brand of the Young Trac...
06/11/2025
ESPN Exits ESPN BET Deal With PENN, Goes Into Business With DraftKingsDraftKings will integrate innovative fan experiences' across ESPN platforms and DTC s...
06/11/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Voyage Audio's Colin Ritchie on How the Spatial M...
06/11/2025
Ben Whishaw at the premiere of Peter Hujar's Day (photo by Robin Marshall / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Bailey Pennick
The premise is si...
06/11/2025
With nearly 50% of streamers willing to cancel a service based on difficulty fin...
06/11/2025
BRISTOL, Conn., and BOSTON ESPN and DraftKings today announced an agreement naming DraftKings the sports programmer's exclusive official sportsbook and odds...
06/11/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Canon USA has launched the CR-N400 and CR-N350, two new Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras designed to deliver high image quality, versatile connectivit...
06/11/2025
NEW YORK Fox Sports said its coverage of the Los Angeles Dodgers' win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the decisive Game 7 of the 2025 World Series delivered 2...
06/11/2025
NEW YORK DoubleVerify and Roku, Inc. are reporting that they have seen a marked reduction in fraudulent ad requests imitating Roku device traffic across the s...