ESPN is in deep trouble after it was reported that the sports cable network used fake names to win several Emmy awards for their College GameDay personalities.
Katie Strang of The Athletic reported that the network was forced to return awards after submitting false names in several categories, then altering the nameplates by adding the names of their stars and giving them the awards as if those stars won them.
Rules from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) precluded on-air personalities from winning Emmys in more than one category for the same show, according to Sports Illustrated. “Kirk Herbstreit could win for his work as an analyst, but he could not win an award won by College GameDay as a program,” the magazine explained.
So, it appears that ESPN submitted a false name for some awards so their on-air talents could “win” multiple awards.
The false names were submitted as “associate producers”—”often similar in name to actual on-air talent; for instance, ‘Kirk Henry’ and ‘Lee Clark’ for Herbstreit and [Lee] Corso,” Sports Illustrated continued. Then, the awards were given to the network’s stars with new nameplates engraved for them to replace the fake names.
GameDay host Kirk Herbstreit is seen during ESPN’s College GameDay show at Times Square on September 23, 2017 in New York City. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Strang added that no evidence exists that the on-air personalities were aware of ESPN’s end-run around the awards rules.
ESPN has apologized for the rule violations.
“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 network said in a statement.
ESPN College GameDay analyst Rece Davis discusses game day at Times Square on September 23, 2017, in New York City. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
“NATAS identified a number of fictitious credits submitted by ESPN to multiple Sports Emmys competitions,” NATAS told The Athletic. “When brought to the attention of ESPN senior management, the network took steps to take responsibility for the actions of its personnel.”
The rules were created to prevent stars from racking up awards and to give producers, writers, and others a shot at being recognized.
ESPN College Gameday analysts Lee Corso (L) and Kirk Herbstreit pose on set at Times Square on September 23, 2017, in New York City. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
The NATAS has announced that ESPN Vice President Craig Lazarus, former senior Vice President Lee Fitting, and College GameDay coordinating producer Drew Gallagher are now banned from having their names submitted for any future Emmy award.
The last time College GameDay won an Emmy was in 2018.
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