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DENNIS LEWIN

Mr. Lewin had a long and distinguished career with ABC Sports and the National Football League from 1966-2006.

His 30-year ABC Sports career was marked with a wide variety of continually increasing responsibilities in production and administration, the last 10 as Senior Vice President, Production, ABC Sports. In that capacity, reporting directly to the President of ABC Sports, he was responsible for ABC Sports’ production area, as well as coordinating many other areas involving sales, program administration, and as a liaison with numerous sports organizers. ABC Sports was awarded 64 Emmys during the time Mr. Lewin served as Sr. Vice President, Production. He previously personally garnered 13 Emmy Awards. Among his prior responsibilities, he had been ABC Sports’ Vice President, Production Coordination, and served 15 years as Coordinating Producer of “ABC’s Wide World of Sports.” During his years as Coordinating Producer of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, the series garnered its top 15 ratings of all time and was the ratings leader of all sports programs during the winter months for many of those years.

Mr. Lewin joined ABC Sports in August, 1966, as Director of Rights Acquisitions and Assistant to the Coordinating Producer of “Wide World.” In those capacities he was involved in all aspects of the show, ranging from production to scheduling and rights negotiations. In 1969, he became an associate producer as well, and in 1970, he became a full sports producer. That year he became the producer of the mobile unit responsible for the special techniques during the inaugural season of ABC’s NFL “Monday Night Football.” In 1971, he was named Director of Production Coordination of ABC’s Wide World of Sports (a title later changed to Coordinating Producer). That same year, he became co-producer of “Monday Night Football.” He served in that capacity for “MNF” in 1971 and 1972 and was the producer of the prime-time series from 1977-79, receiving an Emmy award for his work during the 1978 season. In his 15 year tenure as “Wide World’s” Coordinating Producer, the program also won 10 Emmy Awards, a Christopher Award (the first time in the 35-year history of the award that a sports program had been honored) and three CINE Golden Eagle Awards. It was Mr. Lewin who inserted the video of the ski jumping fall (Vinko Bogataj) into the opening and closing of Wide World of Sports that became synonymous with “the agony of defeat.” It was Mr. Lewin who went to the organizers of the Arlington Invitational horse race in 1973 (featuring Secretariat following his Triple Crown victories) and suggested putting horses’ names on saddle clothes in addition to numbers for easier identification, especially for still photos. Up until then, only numbers had been used in horse racing. The organizers agreed. The following year, it became the standard for the Triple Crown and then all of horse racing.

Mr. Lewin produced the swimming and diving competition coverage of the 1972 Olympic Games, during which Mark Spitz won a record (at that time) seven gold medals, and the now infamous U.S.-U.S.S.R basketball final. In Montreal, at the 1976 Olympics, he produced coverage of the Nadia Comaneci-dominated gymnastics competitions. He was Senior Producer of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, where he was involved in all aspects of planning for ABC’s extensive coverage, as well as producing the Opening Ceremonies and the figure skating events.

As Senior Producer at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Mr. Lewin was again involved in all areas of the planning process. He also produced coverage of the figure skating competition and was instrumental in the studio operation for ABC’s 63 hours of exclusive coverage. He again served as the Senior Producer and Line-Producer of all of ABC Sports’ extensive daytime coverage of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and for ABC Sports’ coverage of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Mr. Lewin produced the annual NFL Pro Bowl game in 1978, 1979, 1980 and ABC’s Major League Baseball coverage, including the 1978, 1980 and 1984 National League Championship Series, the 1982 American League Championship Series as well as the 1978, 1980 and the 1982 Major League Baseball All-Star Games. He also was a producer for coverage of the 1981, 1983 and 1985 World Series. Among his numerous other production credits are a wide range of events like the Little League World Series (where in 1985, Mr. Lewin used the first wireless camera ever on a baseball umpire’s mask, now a standard fixture on many baseball telecasts), World Championships in figure skating (where Mr. Lewin helped design first the system to display judges placements (i.e. “ordinals”) in addition to individual scores) and gymnastics, World Championship boxing involving the likes of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard, Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon Jump, Willie Mosconi vs. Minnesota Fats pocket billiards, ski jumping, auto racing, track and field, etc.

He joined the NFL as Senior Vice President - Broadcast Planning, in March, 1997. “Dennis has an outstanding knowledge of the TV business,” said former ABC/Cap Cities President/CEO Dan Burke. “He was the best prepared we ever had here at ABC for every one of his assignments.” In June, 1998, he became Senior Vice President -Broadcasting and Network Television, serving in that capacity until he retired from full-time responsibilities in September, 2003. During his time there, he was responsible for overseeing construction of the League’s playing schedule, instrumental in developing the NFL’s “Instant Replay” review process, and managing the League’s relationships with its’ network partners. From October 2003 to September, 2006, he served as a consultant to the NFL, primarily continuing to help oversee the construction of the NFL playing schedule.

Mr. Lewin the first graduate of the Little League Baseball program to be named Chairman of the Board of Directors of Little League Baseball International (he was so named in November 2007) and also serves as a Trustee of the Little League Foundation (since 1986).

A 1965 graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts, and the student manager of the school’s hockey team, Mr. Lewin has been honored by the University on many occasions. In 1974, he was presented the MSU College of Communication Arts Outstanding Alumni Award. In 1990, the MSU Hockey team awarded him their Outstanding Alumni award, and in 1995, he was named the recipient of the Jack Breslin Life Achievement award by the MSU Varsity Alumni Club. Additionally, he served from 1992 until 1996 on the MSU National Alumni Board of Directors. In 1994, he was the commencement speaker at the school’s College of Communication Arts graduation ceremony.

Mr. Lewin additionally served as Vice President of the O’Hara Foundation, established as a means to memorialize Janet and Jack O’Hara and their daughter, Caitlin, who tragically lost their lives in the TWA 800 disaster. The not-for-profit public charity foundation is a volunteer management entity whose goal is to keep the O’Hara spirit of giving and caring alive. The main fundraiser is the annual O’Hara Invitational Youth Basketball Tournament, organized in conjunction with the Irvington Recreation Department, with all proceeds going to the Foundation.

References: National Football League ABC Sports Little League Baseball and Softball Michigan State University

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