Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2023: Lance Barrow, Front-Bench Maestro on the Greens and the Gridiron By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 2:21 pm
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Leading up to the 2023 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony on Dec. 12 at the New York Hilton, SVG is profiling the nine inductees in this year's class. For more information, CLICK HERE.
From the greens of Augusta National to the gridiron of Super Bowl Sunday, Lance Barrow has made an indelible impact on not only the legacy of CBS Sports but the entire sports-broadcasting industry. During more than 40 years at CBS Sports, he created some of the most memorable moments in sports-television history as coordinating/lead producer of CBS's golf coverage and NFL coverage for two decades.
Lance will go down in history as one of the most distinguished and accomplished producers in the annals of sports
television, says CBS Sports lead announcer Jim Nantz. It's a massive achievement to be the leader of one network sports package. Amazingly, Lance was in charge of two: CBS Golf and the NFL on CBS. Since 1997, he choreographed our coverage of the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the Super Bowl. He did them all over and over again and won countless Emmys. A true testament to a legendary career.
If Hall of Famer Frank Chirkinian is the father of televised golf, then Lance Barrow is the man who brought the
sport into the 21st century. Taking over for his longtime mentor as coordinating producer for CBS Sports' golf package in 1997, he became just the second man in history to produce the Masters for television and would continue that role until 2020. Simply put, televised golf would not be where it is today without the artistry and imagination of Lance Barrow.
But Barrow's mastery extended far beyond the greens and fairways. He donned the hat of coordinating producer for the NFL on CBS and took the helm as lead game producer from 2004 to 2017, overseeing four Super Bowls during the period.
In addition to legendary work on golf and the NFL, the 13-time Emmy Award winner has served as producer for coverage on the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Olympic Winter Games, Daytona 500, marquee college football, US Open tennis, The NFL Today, and many other CBS Sports properties.
From chronicling the most memorable moments of golf legends like Tiger Woods at Augusta, the PGA Championship, and dozens of PGA Tour events to presenting the most iconic moments of NFL players like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning during their Hall of Fame careers, few individuals have contributed as much to the legacy of CBS Sports as Barrow.
The images produced by Lance will live on in the memories of sports fans forever, says CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. From the Masters, Super Bowl, the Olympics, the Daytona 500, and numerous other signature events, his presentation has set the industry standard for over four decades. His legacy as one of the best producers ever is secure for all time.
A Texas-Size Determination: From College Athlete to Production Pro
Growing up on a dairy farm in Colleyville, TX, outside Fort Worth, Barrow found a passion for sports early on. Not only did he constantly play sports, but his parents were TCU football season-ticket holders for more than 40 years and often spent fall Saturdays hitting back-to-back TCU-Baylor football games with Barrow and his siblings. He also caddied regularly on the golf course - a move that would end up getting his foot in the door in sports production.
When I was in high school, he explains, my parents would let me caddy in the Colonial National Invitation Tournament in Fort Worth if I kept up my grades. The [player I was caddying for] missed the 36-hole cut so I decided to go over to ABC Sports on Saturday morning and ask if I could work for them. I said I'd worked for them before even though I hadn't, so I got a job running lower-third graphics. And that's what started my career.
After graduating from Fort Worth Christian High School, Barrow went on to play college football and baseball - first at the University of Wisconsin and then at Abilene Christian - while also working for ABC Sports whenever he could and spending summers caddying for Jim Simons on the PGA TOUR.
Early Days in Broadcasting: Joining the CBS Sports Family During his junior year of college in May 1976 at the Colonial, Barrow approached then CBS Sports associate producer Chuck Will and asked for a job at the golf tournament that week. Will put Lance to work immediately, assigning him to the role of spotter for iconic announcer and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Pat Summerall. It was here that his journey began forging a career that would eventually lead him to some of the biggest stages in the world at CBS Sports.
That first weekend, Pat Summerall said I want that kid out with me more often, says Barrow. I don't know what I did to impress him, but I was very fortunate that he took a liking to me.
Barrow ended up working with Summerall for six years, traveling across the country and sitting to his left in the booth while he called golf and NFL football.
It was funny because I was still in college and I'd go do these top NFL games, first with Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshire or Pat and John Madden on Sunday and then fly back Monday morning and go back to school. I'd be doing the Masters or the Super Bowl and then go back and live in the athletic dorms at Abilene Christian.
Graduating with a degree in communications in 1978, Barrow joined the CBS Broadcast Associates entry-level program in New York. He worked his way up the chain at The Tiffany Network, serving various production roles on NFL, college-football, golf, college-basketball, and The NFL Today throughout the 1980s.
His fi
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Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2023: Lance Barrow, Front-Bench Maestro on the Greens and the Gridiron By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
