2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Tommy Roy, a Passion for Sports and Storytelling By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Tuesday, November 19, 2024 - 2:22 pm
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Leading up to the 2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony on Dec. 17 at the New York Hilton, SVG is profiling the 10 inductees in this year's class. For more information, CLICK HERE.
Odds are, you have not seen Tommy Roy actually doing his craft in a production truck. But a look at the list of memorable sports moments he has crafted will definitely jog some vivid memories:
The Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics. Michael Phelps capturing eight golds in swimming in Beijing (and any Olympic swimming event broadcast by NBC since 2004). NBC Sports golf coverage for the past 19 years, including numerous U.S. Opens, Ryder Cups, and 19 THE PLAYERS Championships. Michael Jordan's first three NBA Championships. Watching sports greats finally achieve a championship, like Nebraska Cornhusker coach Tom Osborne winning the 1984 Orange Bowl or John Elway and the Denver Broncos winning Super Bowl XXXII. Even OJ Simpson's car chase in 1994 during the 1994 NBA Finals, when NBC Sports legend Dick Ebersol called for a two-box to show both the chase and the game between the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.
That was a surreal night, recalls Roy of a night that was surreal for just about everyone else as well. But what isn't surreal is how his memorable events and storytelling have resonated with others.
When I look at Tommy's body of work, I'm absolutely gobsmacked, says Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Fred Gaudelli, executive producer, NFL, NBC Sports. The man has produced Super Bowls, NBA Finals, major venues at the Olympics, and of course almost every major golf tournament the sport has known. That alone makes you say, Wow,' but it's the quality of the presentations in all those disparate events that makes him an all-time great.
Fellow inductee Mark Lazarus, chairman, NBC Universal Media Group, has known Tommy for 25 years and worked with him for the past 14. There isn't a better or more prepared producer and leader, he says. He makes every show and product he touches better - and resets industry standards in the process.
Likewise, Molly Solomon, executive producer/president, NBC Olympics Production, has worked on dozens, if not hundreds, of events with Tommy. He is a one-of-a-kind producer, she says. His r sum is unmatched: producing Super Bowls, NBA Finals, golf's major championships, Ryder Cups, Olympic Primetime, and every one of Michael Phelps's Olympic swimming medals. Who has the versatility to achieve that? He is the best live-sports producer I've ever worked with.
Born in Dearborn, MI, in 1958, Roy was 2 when the family moved to Arizona, where his father was a golf pro. When Roy was 20 and on winter break from college, his father helped him land his first job in the industry: the Tucson Open was in town, and Roy's father got him a job there, although what he would be doing at the event was unknown.
They said I could either work in one of the portable bars on the golf course or take coffee to the NBC cameraman, he recalls. I had no knowledge or interest in the TV business whatsoever, but I knew the guy that had done this particular job the year before, and I knew that he was paid by both the golf course and NBC.
Getting coffee gave him a chance to step inside the TV-production unit, and Roy knew instantly that working in a truck on a sports production was something he wanted to be part of. They were on the air. I saw the excitement and electricity and knew that that's what I wanted to do. I also thought I could thrive in that environment, so I went home and told my mom what I wanted to do. Sure enough, it worked out.
And how. Roy has won 29 Sports Emmys, and his r sum also includes Super Bowls, Olympic studio shows, Wimbledon, the French Open, the Triple Crown, and NASCAR's Daytona 500.
Although he has captured Sports Emmys for many types of events, his most consistent connection with sports fans is through golf. He oversees NBC's coverage of PGA TOUR events as well as the PLAYERS Championship, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship.
PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan describes Roy as a giant of sports broadcasting, noting that, over his 40+-year career, he has brought some the biggest moments in sports into living rooms. He has been instrumental in the evolution of televised golf, and his in-the-moment storytelling ability combined with his passion and reverence for our game and its complexities is on full display in every telecast.
Adds NBC Sports President Rick Cordella, Tommy has been an incredible leader of our golf productions for decades, and everything else he has touched - most notably, swimming at the Olympics - sets new standards for excellence. He's among the most respected and well-liked people in our business, a true Hall of Famer in every respect.
Good Fortune Getting his first event out of the way at the Tucson Open, Roy was able to take the next step quickly. The Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Springs was the very next week, and NBC invited him to work as a runner. Since it was still winter break, he leaped at the chance.
After that tournament, he recalls, they asked if I could do the rest of the spring tour, which meant I would have to drop out of school for the semester. It didn't go over very well with my parents that I was dropping out of school to do this. I did take another semester off to do more golf, but I did get my degree.
By the time he graduated, Roy was a freelance PA for NBC Sports and had worked on football games, basketball games, and, of course, more golf. He also had the good fortune to catch the eye of Executive Produce
