ESPN Responds To Shocking Report About Fraudulent Emmy Submissions For ‘College GameDay’ Talent: “Members Of Our Team Were Wrong”

ESPN acknowledged it was “clearly wrong in submitting certain names going back to 2007” in light of a shocking report that reveals how the network skirted Emmy rules to help on-air talent rack up trophies.

Much of the report involved the stars of College GameDay, who picked up multiple Sports Emmys for Outstanding Weekly Studio Show between 2008 and 2018. Up until 2023, talent could not be included in a credit list for Outstanding Weekly Show; hosts, analysts and reporters on could win individual awards, but they couldn’t earn an Emmy if the show triumphed.

According to a report in The Athletic, ESPN got around the rule by creating fake names for the credit list it submitted for College GameDay.  All were listed as associate producers. Once the show won for Outstanding Weekly Show, ESPN took the awards earned by those fake folks and had them re-engraved with the names of on-air personalities.

Among those who received the shady Emmys were Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Samantha Ponder, among others.

“Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names going back to 2007 (or that MAY go back to 1997) in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes. This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to NATAS for violating guidelines and worked closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process to safeguard against anything like this happening again.”

The Athletic says the fraudulent behavior was discovered by NATAS. It’s unclear whose idea it was to skirt the NATAS rules, but VP Craig Lazarus and SVP Lee Fitting were two ESPN employees that NATAS ruled ineligible from future participation in the Emmys.

“NATAS identified a number of fictitious credits submitted by ESPN to multiple Sports Emmys competitions,” according to a NATAS spokesperson. “When brought to the attention of ESPN senior management, the network took steps to take responsibility for the actions of its personnel, to investigate thoroughly, and to course correct. These steps have included the return by ESPN of statuettes issued to fictitious individuals and commitments to implement further internal accountability and procedural changes at the network.”

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