Global Sports Mentoring Program

Kate Jackson, Bristol, CT

Vice President - Production, ESPN

Kate Jackson, who has worked in a variety of production positions since joining ESPN in 1999, is vice president, production.
Jackson was named coordinating producer in July 2011, with her role expanded to coordinating producer, special events, in December 2018. Her primary responsibilities include oversight of the ESPYs, NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, The Heisman Trophy Presentation, Sports Humanitarian Awards and other special events, Special Olympics and Formula 1 Racing. She oversees all planning and content for Special Olympics coverage that airs on ESPN and ABC.

In motorsports, Jackson is responsible for oversight of ESPN’s production of telecasts of Formula 1 races in partnership with SKY Media. After being named coordinating producer in 2011, her role expanded to include oversight of the entire production as well as producing telecasts of the pre-race program for many events. Jackson served the same roles in ESPN’s IndyCar Series coverage through the 2018 season, expanding on her 2006 role of associate producer that included producing Indianapolis 500 features and tape producing during live race telecasts and became the first female producer for the Indy 500 pre-race show.

Her previous experience with ESPN includes working with college basketball from 2015-2018, the College Football Playoff in 2014 and 2015, as well as the 2019 CFP National Championship halftime show and traveling around the world as a figure skating associate producer in 2004-2005. In 2016, she earned a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Trans-Media Sports Coverage for the presentation of the College Football Playoff National Championship Megacast.

She started her ESPN career as a production assistant on outdoor programming, later working on college football, NASCAR, Major League Baseball, the College World Series and ESPN’s Summer and Winter X Games. Before joining ESPN on a fulltime basis, she worked as a runner for four years for ESPN and ABC on remote productions including baseball, golf, college football and basketball and the X Games.

Jackson is a graduate of the University of Iowa.

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