Jed Drake

With over 30 years in sports broadcasting and production, Jed Drake has served as Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of Event Production at ESPN since 2000, and has worked for ESPN in other capacities since the network’s inception. Graduating from Boston University, Jed Drake began his career as a Sportscaster with Plattsburgh, New York, NBC-affiliate WPTZ-TV from 1978 to 1980. During his time there, Jed Drake had the chance to oversee production at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

Joining cable sports upstart ESPN in 1980, Jed Drake worked his way up to a position as a Coordinating Producer in 1989 and Senior Coordinating Producer in 1992. Always on the lookout for innovative programming, Jed Drake helped introduce Major League Baseball to ESPN’s lineup in 1990. Jed Drake also launched ESPN’s coverage of the X Games in the mid-1990s. Over the years, Jed Drake has served as Executive Producer of various X Games events, as well as of 2009’s X Games 3D: The Movie, featuring Tony Hawk, Shaun White, and other star athletes.

Since his promotion to his current position in 2000, Jed Drake has expanded the range of services and sports coverage in ESPN’s broadcast schedule. In 2003, Jed Drake oversaw the introduction of ESPN HD, the network’s high-definition simulcast service, to the ESPN line-up. One of Jed Drake’s greatest recent accomplishments was his direction of a broadcast team of over 300 supporting ESPN’s extensive coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa. Despite the 2006 World Cup’s Nielsen rating of only 1.6, Jed Drake predicted increased prospects for the sport. Jed Drake’s leadership expanded 2010 World Cup broadcasts and increased American viewership of soccer significantly.