Three members of The Walt Disney Company/ESPN family – former Disney Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger, Monday Night Football analyst Troy Aikman and veteran production staffer Jim Dove – were named to the 10-member Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Class of 2026 announced on Wednesday.
Each individual in the 2026 class has impacted the sports TV industry in profound and unique ways. Here’s a closer look at the Disney/ESPN honorees:
Robert A. Iger: Robert A. Iger is the former Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company and currently serves as Senior Advisor and a member of Disney’s Board of Directors. Iger guided Disney for more than two decades, making it one of the world’s most influential and admired media companies, and overseeing an unparalleled portfolio of iconic brands, franchises, and experiences that reach billions of people around the globe. He began his career at ABC in 1974, including 13 years with ABC Sports, where he became head of programming, before rising to become President of the ABC Network Television Group and later President and COO of Capital Cities/ABC. During his tenure at Disney, Iger oversaw ESPN’s evolution into the preeminent digital sports platform, guiding its expansion across television, digital, streaming, and direct-to-consumer. He was also instrumental in ESPN’s ground-breaking agreement with the NFL. Beyond sports, Iger transformed Disney through a series of landmark strategic initiatives, including the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox; the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort; and the global launch of Disney+. Iger, along with his wife, Willow Bay, own the controlling interest in the Angel City Football Club. He was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2022 and awarded France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2024. Mr. Iger is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Ride of a Lifetime.
Troy Aikman: This year marks Aikman’s 25th year as one of the leading analysts in the NFL and his fifth at ESPN after he spent 20 years at Fox Sports where he began his career in 2001 after retiring earlier that year. Aikman works alongside fellow Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Joe Buck, and they have been the NFL’s most consistent broadcasting tandem, beginning their partnership in 2002 as a three-man booth with another Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, analyst Cris Collinsworth, before becoming a duo in 2005. Over their 24 seasons together, they have called more than 400 regular-season games, more than 40 playoff matchups, 18 NFC Championship Games and Super Bowls XXXIX, XLII, XLV, XLVIII, LI and LIV. Aikman will be on the call for ESPN’s first Super Bowl production on February 14, 2027 for Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Jim Dove: For nearly 40 years, Jim Dove has been at the top of the list of ESPN replay operators and an integral part of the network, shaping and delivering some of its most innovative and influential productions and technologies like 4K zoom, pylon goal line replays, and more. A pioneer in tape replay, he operated the first EVS system on Sunday Night Baseball in 1995 and then at the Super Bowl in 1996. He worked on the show for 29 years and he drove innovations such as integrating onsite edit systems for Sunday Night Baseball and Monday Night Football. Dove has received two Sports Emmys, in 1989 for ESPN’’s “SpeedWorld” and in 2022 for “Team Technical Event.” His annual work schedule now includes Monday Night Football, College Football Playoffs, NHL, The Masters, Wimbledon, and US Open tennis.
The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on December 15 at the New York Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan.