Chris Calcinari

Chris Calcinari

Senior Vice President, Content Operations

In August of 2024, Chris Calcinari’s role with ESPN was expanded, continuing his leadership with the company’s Content Operations Group. His oversight of Studio and Remote Operations continued and he added oversight of Studio and Event Directing to his responsibilities.

Since 2018, Calcinari was senior vice president of remote production operations, and was previously vice president, remote operations from 2008, overseeing remote studios, field operations, remote traffic, crewing, and mobile unit operations. Calcinari has direct oversight of the planning and execution for all production in the field, including the hiring, travel, and payment for more than 80,000 technician day-hires annually. He and his team of close to 500 staffers handle the financial, technical and logistics planning; on-site operations, and remote transmission for more than 4,000 live events across all ESPN platforms. In addition, Calcinari is responsible for ESPN’s studio operations in other locations including Washington D.C., and New York City.

In 2017, Calcinari and his team began working hand-in-hand with NEP and the Howard Hughes Corporation to plan, design and launch a new ESPN studio within the Seaport District in lower Manhattan. This facility launched in April of 2018. At roughly 21,000 square feet, this state-of-the-art, technical facility houses two television studios, a radio/podcast studio, as well as technical and support space for over 70 technicians and production staffers. More than 200 hours of content per week, including Get Up, First TakeAround the Horn, NFL Countdown, NBA Countdown and many ESPN Audio and digital shows originate from this facility.

Calcinari joined ESPN in February 1990 as a coordinator in the media assets department and held positions of increasing responsibility within the technical operations, international production and ESPN Deportes areas before being named vice president, ESPN International and ESPN Deportes Production in 2004. In that role, he was directly responsible for the production and operations efforts for ESPN International’s Latin America, Atlantic, and Pacific Rim networks, as well as the Spanish-language domestic network, ESPN Deportes.

Calcinari has played an integral role in the launch of 12 different ESPN International networks, as well as numerous programming initiatives – including the launch and management of six different versions of SportsCenter around the globe. Calcinari was responsible for expanding ESPN’s capacity to distribute content globally by overseeing the build of technical facilities in Mexico and Argentina, and developing and implementing long-term distribution strategies for ESPN’s dozens of international networks. Additionally, Chris and his team staged productions on multiple continents, from simple events, to complex championships and newsgathering operations across numerous networks.

Calcinari led the team that was directly responsible for the launch and management of ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network in the United States, and he has been a key member of the teams that launched ESPN3D, Longhorn Network, SEC Network, and  ACC Network.

Calcinari is a 16-time Telly Award winner for his work with ESPN International and ESPN Deportes. In his current role, he has been honored with eleven Emmy Awards in both technical and production categories; two New York Festival Awards for Best Remote Technical Team, the 2014 CableFax Award for Overall Technical Innovation and several SVG (Sports Video Group) Awards for live event execution. Calcinari sits on the Advisory Board for SVG, has been a member of the United Way Board of Directors (West Central Connecticut chapter), and serves on several committees in support of local and national charitable initiatives.

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