ESPN pulled trick play on Emmys by submitting fake names then giving trophies to ineligible 'College GameDay' stars: Report

A shocking report from the Athletic reveals that for decades, ESPN pulled a trick play on the Emmy Awards so that the network could dole out individual trophies to its stars who were not eligible to receive them at the time.

The scandal relates to an old rule forbidding on-air hosts from receiving individual trophies for an Emmy Award given to their show. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization which governs the Emmys, implemented the rule to prevent "double-dipping," as hosts were still eligible to win awards in individual categories for the same body of work, the Athletic explained.

That rule was scrapped in 2023.

However, for decades, ESPN did a clever end-around. When submitting shows for award nominations, the network included fake names of people who supposedly worked behind the scenes. Then, when ESPN's shows won, someone would take the trophies awarded to fake people and have them re-engraved to feature the names of real ESPN stars. Those stars would then receive the trophy in the mail, likely completely unaware that they hadn't actually won it.

In all, ESPN sent out "more than 30 of the coveted statuettes" to on-air hosts, the Athletic claimed, many of them to current or former stars on "College GameDay," the iconic show about college football which airs on Saturday mornings during the fall.

Between 2008 and 2018, "College GameDay" won eight Emmys for outstanding weekly studio show. The Athletic examined the credit lists associated with those wins and learned that in almost every case, ESPN had submitted names closely resembling those of real people, claiming that each one was an "associate producer."

According to the Athletic:

Kirk Henry (Kirk Herbstreit), Lee Clark (Lee Corso), Dirk Howard (Desmond Howard), and Tim Richard (Tom Rinaldi) appeared in all seven years. Steven Ponder (Sam Ponder) and Gene Wilson (Gene Wojciechowski) appeared in five from 2014-18. Chris Fulton (Chris Fowler) appeared in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. Shelley Saunders (Shelley Smith) appeared in the 2010 credit list.

However, longtime "SportsCenter" host Linda Cohn may also have received Emmys she didn't win as well. Though NATAS confirmed that Cohn has earned one Emmy, she apparently has a total of four in her possession. In an Instagram post dated November 2023, she called them her "Fab 4." She referred the Athletic to an ESPN spokesperson for comment.

NATAS eventually began to suspect that someone at ESPN was gaming the system, and in 2022, the Emmy group asked the network to verify some of the names it had submitted for awards. At that point, ESPN, which conducted an investigation into the matter as well, fessed up.

For its report, the Athletic attempted to ascertain why ESPN went to so much trouble. While some at the network suggested the scheme was designed to feed the egos of hosts or executives, others told the outlet that the rule was "stupid," ostensibly because it allowed those in the industry to recognize an exceptional show without giving credit to those who appeared on it.

Since NATAS threw the flag at ESPN, 37 statuettes have been returned, but it is unclear whether they are all from ESPN. There is no indication that other networks borrowed a page from ESPN's playbook and conducted a similar scheme.

ESPN has issued a statement about the scandal:

Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names 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.

We brought in outside counsel to conduct a full and thorough investigation and individuals found to be responsible were disciplined by ESPN.

Adam Sharp of NATAS gave one to the Athletic as well:

NATAS identified a number of fictitious credits submitted by ESPN to multiple Sports Emmys competitions. 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.

At least three current or former ESPN employees, all in senior production positions, are no longer eligible to win an Emmy going forward. The identity of the individual who authorized the scheme in the first place remains unknown.

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