Live From CFP National Championship: ESPN Colleagues Celebrate Operations Legend Bob Braunlich, Working His Final CFP Set to retire in April, Braunlich has worked for ESPN and ABC Sports for 38 years By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, January 13, 2020 - 2:10 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
While the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game will go down as one of the most technologically comprehensive sports-television productions in history, it also marks a bittersweet moment in history for those who work behind the scenes at the game's primary broadcaster, ESPN.
After nearly four decades in sports television, ESPN VP, Remote Production Operations, Bob Braunlich is set to retire in April, making this the final College Football Championship Game he will work full-time for the network. Affectionately referred to as simply BB by his colleagues, Braunlich has long been the cool, calm, and comprehensive tour de force that makes many of the largest and most complex traveling studio operations possible.
Since the days of the Bowl Championship Series, ESPN's Bob Braunlich has worked every single college football championship game.
BB has been a consistent force on our College Football National Championship productions, says Chris Calcinari, SVP, remote operations, ESPN and ABC Sports. He has been a key leader on every CFP Championship and on many BCS Championships before that. I could not be happier for him to be able to move on and enjoy retirement, but his knowledge and experience on this event is going to be missed greatly. We are all very thankful for his incredible contributions over his 38-year career with ESPN and ABC Sports. BB is rightly known outside the ESPN community for his experience and knowledge. Within ESPN, he is also loved for his care, respect, and sincere appreciation for our team members. He has a heart of gold and is literally beloved by all.
Braunlich's 38-year career traces back to the days when ABC Sports defined quality in live sports television. When ABC Sports was fully integrated into ESPN in 2006, he became a dutiful leader for the sports-media behemoth. From traveling the country with, perhaps, the greatest traveling sports show in television history, College GameDay, to being one of only a few ESPNers to work every single college football championship game (dating back to the days of the Bowl Championship Series) since ESPN locked up those rights, Braunlich has been a pillar in the company and has helped turn the championship into not just a game but a weekend-long multi-network celebration.
No one has more passion about what he does than BB. For all of us at ESPN, he is the embodiment of a perfect teammate, says Lee Fitting, VP, production, ESPN, who has worked with Braunlich on countless road productions, including, most notably, College Gameday. While his fingerprints are found across a number of our properties, I know the College Football Playoff coverage and the enormous operation that it has become across our company is special to him. His level of expertise and love for what he does, combined with our trust in him and his entire team, is what makes our vision as a production team possible. Simply said, it has been an honor to work alongside him for many years.
Known as a mentor, Bob Braunlich says that, even after retiring, he will continue to be available to current and future generations of ESPNers.
Says Mike Foss, supervising director, ESPN External Studio Group, He's a legend in our business. When you think about what ABC Sports was 38 years ago and the merger with ESPN, he came over with his experience and his leadership on both sides of the ledger, which was key to that integration. When you look at the properties he oversees, it's no small coincidence that he leads the most important live events that the company has. You don't replace somebody like that. You suck up as much knowledge as you can from them and hope for the best. He's clearly going to be missed.
Though excited about retirement, Braunlich vows to not go very far and to always remain available to current and future generations of ESPNers. His willingness to mentor, in fact, has been a calling card of his career: he has developed a reputation as someone willing to walk anyone through a tough project or the next move in their career. He is also highly engaged and active with TV-production students at his alma mater, Westminster College.
April 17 is a day that I'm not looking forward to, says Operations Producer Andy Davenport, a close colleague. BB has been tremendous. He recruited me into the position that I'm now in. I'll be forever grateful. I have so much respect and admiration for him. It will be a huge loss for our company.
The thing about BB is, he continues, it's not just the immediate crew that he works with all of the time that he touches. He has people in our department who may not have a lot of daily interaction with him who will go to him, and he mentors them. They respect him and what he represents. He truly cares about people, and everyone knows that. That's an aspect in today's business world that just doesn't exist. He touches a lot of lives and is going to be very much missed.
Sitting across from Davenport at breakfast on Sunday morning in New Orleans, Braunlich smiles. If that's my legacy, I'm pretty happy with it, he says. Sure, you put shows on, but, if that's my legacy, I'll take that.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
03/12/2025
CINCINNATI GatesAir has introduced Maxiva XTK, an update to its Maxiva XTE software-defined TV exciter. XTK is a new cost-efficient model primarily developed fo...
03/12/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications is partnering with Haivision, a global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and visual collaboratio...
03/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on the proposed $6.2 billion Nexstar acquisition for Tegna and set deadlines f...
03/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
03/12/2025
NEW YORK Great American Media said it plans to launch Pure Flix Familia, a dedicated Spanish-language platform, in 2026....
03/12/2025
SOUTHPORT, Conn. Main Street Sports Group has announced that the FanDuel Sports Network app is now available directly on Vizio and on smart TVs with Vizio OS. T...
03/12/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Telia, the second-largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's c...
03/12/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. Sinclair said Jay Zollar, vice president and general manager of WLUK-WCWF here, will retire Dec. 31 after 26 years running the stations. Station...
03/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Celebrate 2025's top Irish sporting stars with RT Sport Awards live from RT Studios on RT One and RT Player
RT pays tribute to Ror...
02/12/2025
Case Study: How Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Moved to All-IP Distribution in 60 D...
02/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Lee Corso, Coach, Commentator, FirebrandBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | S...
02/12/2025
SVG All-Stars: Dan Nabors, Senior Director, Remote Engineering, TNT SportsThe veteran tech leader is helping guide Warner Bros. Discovery's at-home' re...
02/12/2025
National Lacrosse League Opens Season With New Cloud-Based Official Replay-Revie...
02/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: The Cinematic Look in Live Production - Bridging Aesthetic...
02/12/2025
SVG India Announces Advisory Board; JioStar's Prashant Khanna Named ChairmanBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 11:15 am
Print This Story |...
02/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: New AI Production Tools Workshop' Features ESPN, F...
02/12/2025
Written and directed by Hailey Gates, Atropia won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival....
02/12/2025
The lightweight and highly portable CORVUS-RAVEN, recently demonstrated at the V...
02/12/2025
The lightweight, rugged Panther 2 tri-band VSAT delivers high-speed data communications for Internet, VPN connectivity and video transmission over commercial an...
02/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
02/12/2025
NGID volunteers in the United States
NGID volunteers in Mexico
NGID volunteers in India
NGID volunteers in Spain
NGID volunteers in Australia
NGID voluntee...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
SAN DIEGO Sony Electronics today introduced the Alpha 7 V (ILCE-7M5), the fifth generation of its Alpha 7 full-frame mirrorless lineup, powered by the newly dev...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on Nexstar Media Group's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna and se...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters has added a trio of media executives, Veronica Rodriguez, Matt Schnaars and Jeff Warshaw, to its board of di...
02/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
02/12/2025
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced a new Service Provider Partner agreement with NPC Media, the Australian managed p...
02/12/2025
DPA Microphones today announces the immediate availability of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System for customers throughout the U.S. In addition ...
02/12/2025
Hiltron Communications reports a well attended and successful Space Tech Expo exhibition, held at the Messe Bremen from Tuesday November 18 through Thursday Nov...
02/12/2025
The beginning of September saw Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, in association with Channel 9 and Triple M, kick off the 2025 Brisbane Festival in spec...
02/12/2025
SGM Lighting is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with ACT Entertainment, under which ACT will serve as the exclusive distributor for SGM's ne...
02/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Telia, the second largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's i...
02/12/2025
European cloud data protection specialist Keepit is expanding its sales network in the DACH region and has gained TIM AG, one of the leading value-added distrib...
02/12/2025
Featured products at ISE 2026
This year s ISE 2026 theme "Push Beyond" reflects Calrec s direction of travel. The company is dedicated to supporting the AV an...
02/12/2025
Czech Television, the national public broadcaster, has deployed one of the largest LiveU live production projects in the region for live sports and news coverag...
02/12/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced the release of v8.2 software for its ZEN and ZEN-W Series, bringing advanced cinematic camera se...
02/12/2025
Global provider of video streaming software and services, Accedo, and OTT platform provider, Magine Pro, have signed a binding agreement to carve out and merge ...
02/12/2025
With proven success in broadcast, OTT, and content supply chains, K.S Avinash set to scale Skandha's service-first approach across APAC
Skandha Media Servi...
02/12/2025
AJA Video Systems has joined the RAVENNA community, a network of partners devoted to advancing the RAVENNA standard for distributing real-time audio over intern...
02/12/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair and its wholly-owned subsidiary One Media Technologies have released a new report focused on how ATSC 3.0, the IP-based NextGen TV sta...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee have elected four industry veterans to three-year terms on the organization's board of direc...
02/12/2025
A new survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan highlights how important social media is for younger consumers, with Gen Z spending 5.1 hours a day on so...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
02/12/2025
Today, Mistral AI announced the Mistral 3 family of open-source multilingual, multimodal models, optimized across NVIDIA supercomputing and edge platforms.
M...
02/12/2025
Ring In The Holidays With Our Biggest Sale Ever On Ivory II Pianos!From now until December 31st, you can save 50% or more on every Ivory II piano and collection...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in America: How Stranger Things' Electrified the US Economy
Entertainment
02 December 2025
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to cl...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Culinary Class Wars' Season 2 Trailer Teases New Rules, R...
Live From CFP National Championship: ESPN Colleagues Celebrate Operations Legend Bob Braunlich, Working His Final CFP Set to retire in April, Braunlich has worked for ESPN and ABC Sports for 38 years By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
