Amanda Gifford is Senior Vice President of Production for ESPN, overseeing ESPN’s industry-leading college football event and studio productions. In addition, Gifford leads event and studio productions for several NCAA sports including Women’s Volleyball, Women’s Gymnastics, and Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse. Gifford’s purview also extends to several professional properties, leading ESPN’s coverage of the UFL, PLL, The Masters and the PGA Championship.

A 20-year company veteran, Gifford has continuously expanded her role over the past two decades, contributing to a variety of areas, including ESPN Audio, SportsCenter and other studio and digital shows, the ESPN Talent Office, and, most recently, event productions.

Gifford was promoted to her current role in January 2025. Her oversight of college football includes more than a thousand regular season and bowl games – including the expanded College Football Playoff and surrounding studio programming – each year across ESPN platforms, including ABC, ESPN’s college networks, and more. She also oversees College GameDay Built by The Home Depot alongside hundreds of hours of live studio programming and wraps, ESPN’s presentation of premier college football award shows, and more.

In her previous role, Gifford was also part of the SportsCenter executive leadership team tasked with content strategy and planning for ESPN’s studio, audio and digital shows. Since January 2019, she oversaw ESPN’s Talent Production Group, the team of producers who secure outside talent and guests for ESPN platforms, events and campaigns. In the fall of 2020, she added co-oversight of ESPN’s Universal Coverage Group – the team of field producers and reporters, the assignment desk, and sport planners – to her areas of responsibility.

Gifford, who joined ESPN in 2004, started her career as an intern at the ESPN Radio Network. She spent 12 years in the radio group, including five years as producer of The Herd with Colin Cowherd. She worked her way up to oversee night and weekend programming and eventually had complete oversight of the 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. talk programming lineup, which included Mike and Mike, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, SVP and Russillo and The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz. In December 2019, Gifford assumed responsibility for the entire ESPN Radio Network.

In 2016, Gifford joined the ESPN Talent Office, where she worked with the team that recruits ESPN’s on-air talent, negotiates contracts, and is responsible for succession planning.

A native of the Finger Lakes area of western New York, Gifford graduated from Penn State with a bachelor of science in elementary education and a bachelor of arts in journalism. She later earned a master’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. A life member of the Penn State Alumni Association, Gifford’s alma mater honored her with an Alumni Achievement Award in 2014. She was also named a “Rising Leader” by Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and was selected to participate in WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, a year-long, immersive experience focused on developing critical leadership competencies and a B2B network.

Gifford lives in Southington, Conn., with her husband and two children.

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