Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Geoffrey Mason dies at 85
Geoffrey Mason, longtime sports television production executive and member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Mason’s career spanned five decades at ABC Sports, ESPN, NBC, Fox, NFL Network and other networks, helping shape the coverage of sports on television. He has won 24 Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
“Geoff Mason was a friend and colleague who had a storied career, touching just about every aspect of the sports television industry,” said Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, owner of ABC and ESPN. “He had a passion for the business, as evidenced by his prodigious work ethic and the constant love and enthusiasm he showed in everything he worked on.
“We will definitely miss him.”
Mason was the coordinating producer of ABC’s coverage of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, among his eight Olympic assignments. During his career, he also covered the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup, Monday Night Football, major golf and tennis tournaments, the Tour de France, the Indianapolis 500, the Triple Crown of horse racing and the America’s Cup of sailing.
A Duke University graduate and U.S. Navy veteran, Mason began his career in sports television as a production associate at ABC Sports in 1967.
Mason was a long-time board member of the V Foundation for Cancer Research after being selected by Jim Valvano as a founding board member and also served as a board member of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
He is survived by his wife, Chris; son, Geoff Jr.; and brother, David.
