Dick Ebersol

Dick Ebersol is an American television executive who served as chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, producing 19 Olympic Games telecasts throughout his career. Born in Torrington, Connecticut, Ebersol first became involved in the Olympic Movement as an Olympic researcher at ABC Sports in 1972. Thus began his long and storied relationship with the Olympic Games. He became president of NBC Sports in 1989 and served as executive producer for the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992. During the 1995-96 television season, for the first and only time in history, Ebersol was able to secure rights for NBC to telecast the World Series, NBA Finals and Olympic Games, all in the same year. He also secured the rights for the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 and the Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake City, marking the first time that rights for consecutive Olympic Games were awarded at the same time. In 1996, The Sporting News named Ebersol the Most Powerful Person in Sports. He would go on to produce the Salt Lake City Games, for which NBC won a record 11 Sport Emmy Awards, as well as the Beijing 2008 Games, the most-watched event in U.S. television history.