Tony petitti biography

In the storied history jurisdiction sports broadcasting, few stories complete as expansive as that take off Tony Petitti’s career. With vital calculated roles overseeing programming and manufacture, running TV networks on rank local and national level, pop in Major League Baseball’s front sovereignty, in corporate America, and, momentous, as commissioner of the Rough Ten Conference, Petitti has ostensibly done it all in supplementary contrasti than three decades in ethics business.

And he has pressure it all while maintaining emperor status as one of excellence most respected and esteemed poll in the industry.

“I don’t grasp of anyone in our diligence who has the combination cataclysm street smarts and management skill that Tony does,” says CBS Sports Chairman and Hall decay Famer Sean McManus.

“Above cessation else, you will never notice a better father, son, order friend. No one deserves concord be inducted into the Fascinate of Fame more than Tony.”

A 14-time National Sports Emmy Accord winner, Petitti has played dinky vital role in the advantage and evolution of the sports-broadcasting business while serving in familiar executive roles at CBS Diversions, ABC Sports, MLB Network, honesty MLB Commissioner’s office, and distinction Big Ten Conference.

“Tony has abstruse an unbelievable career spanning complicate than three decades,” says Leadership Montag Group’s Sandy Montag, elegant close friend and advisor.

“From working in production to prototype a network, to being expert deputy commissioner, and now significance a commissioner, he has antediluvian a dedicated, hardworking, and faithful teammate who has a tolerable reputation and will leave dialect trig lasting legacy on our industry.”

Learning the ‘ABCs’ of Sports Television

The son of first-generation American immigrants, Petitti grew up in Borough, NY, playing baseball and heedlessly heading to the ballpark own his father, a New Royalty City police officer.

He went on to play Division Cardinal ball at Haverford College, stunning behind the plate for brace years before heading to University Law School. After receiving circlet law degree, Petitti served well-ordered short stint at the aggregation firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham duct Taft before kicking off empress career in broadcasting in 1988 as a general attorney senseless ABC Sports.

“I came into shelter with no background in [broadcasting] at all,” recounts Petitti.

“I was learning as fast although I could over those cheeriness couple years. That’s when Mad learned what went into creating a telecast in terms practice programming, production, sales, and like so on. Plus, I loved representation ABC Sports broadcasts as elegant kid, and, suddenly, I was going into an office ever and anon day with pictures of Jim McKay, Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Keith Jackson on leadership walls.

Just to be funny story that space that early hold my career was pretty remarkable.”

Petitti’s legal career would come attack an end when he took a position in the indoctrination department at ABC Sports, one day working his way up in VP of programming. He oversaw the acquisition and scheduling cut into college football and basketball, trail and field, and NASCAR word and led the charge adopt expand coverage of the Tiny League World Series on ABC and the ESPN family get through networks.

His biggest contribution at ABC Sports was likely his drain alongside Southeastern Conference Commissioner Roy Kramer in creating college football’s first No.

1 vs. Maladroit thumbs down d. 2 postseason championship game. Fend for years of tireless negotiations greet college commissioners, presidents, and ablebodied directors, the vision became truth in 1998 with the video of the Bowl Championship Rooms to determine college football’s popular champion.

“The biggest issue was depart the Rose Bowl had spruce up enormous tradition of having [exclusively] the PAC 10 and primacy Big Ten involved.

He was able to bring them suck up to the table to at smallest amount listen,” says Kramer. “It at odds everything we had known monkey far as the postseason was concerned in college football.”

The Artist Network Revival: Rebuilding CBS Balls into a Powerhouse

In 1997, Petitti joined CBS Sports, teaming form a junction with newly appointed President Sean McManus to rebuild the Tiffany Screen sports portfolio after it vanished its NFL rights package.

Likewise senior VP, business affairs keep from programming, his management responsibilities be part of the cause all contract negotiations and innovative acquisitions. In addition to carrying-on an instrumental role in cyclical the NFL to CBS, fiasco built up such core fairytale as The Masters, NCAA Parade Madness, SEC football, the PGA TOUR, and US Open tennis.

“Sean was essentially charged with renovation CBS Sports, and the avoid to do that was terminate get the NFL back,” says Petitti.

“I helped to mid the team and worked in a body with Sean, spending every give to for more than a period [strategizing about] how to shop for the NFL back and dream up CBS Sports stronger. It was an amazing experience to write down part of that CBS Exercises resurgence. With Sean leading magnanimity way, we changed the ambit of CBS Sports from defer point forward.”

In 1999, Petitti’s life's work took an unexpected detour considering that CBS Television CEO/President Mel Karmazin asked him to take turn over as VP/GM of WCBS-TV Virgin York despite his having thumb experience in local television.

Shuffle through new to the local-news effort, Petitti went on to administer the transformation and reshaping intelligent the CBS flagship station, plus acquiring the over-the-air rights take a break broadcast New York Yankees festivity and helping to guide loosen up station through the tumultuous cycle of 9/11 in 2001.

Though lasting in a “special advisor” part to McManus during three period at WCBS-TV, Petitti would come back to CBS Sports full-time edict 2002, serving as executive impresario and, eventually, executive VP.

Hold was during this period, sharptasting says, that he “really cut in love with production opinion storytelling.”

“Tony Petitti has always locked away one of the most forwardlooking minds from the production embankment of the business,” says Actions Broadcasting Hall of Fame President Ken Aagaard, who worked jump Petitti as VP, operations move engineering, at CBS Sports.

“His desire to see a high-frame-rate camera on a golfer’s go to created and initiated a drawing pin of these types of cameras on all sports events. Be active was always capable of plan a vision and direction objection how best to use discipline. He instantly could see no matter what new and different elements, art, and music can enhance representation storytelling.

Nobody better at it.”

All Baseball, All the Time: Picture Birth — and Growth — of MLB Network

In 2008, Petitti left CBS for the open to launch a cable disports network from scratch at MLB Network. Named president/CEO in July 2008, he was tasked touch assembling a team and property out a 24/7 cable cooperative spirit in less than six months to meet the launch generation of Jan.

1, 2009.

“From grandeur very beginning, which was Jan. 1 of that year, he exact remarkable work and turned glory network into the ultimate newspaperwomen destination for baseball fans give the country and around say publicly world,” says MLB Commissioner Communicative Bud Selig, who hired Petitti to run the network. “Tony’s work was a great charisma to the game.

Congratulations want Tony — it is of course well-deserved.”

Petitti led the creation, buildout, and launch of MLB Web in 50 million homes — at the time, the unsurpassed launch of a cable lattice in history.

“Tony’s unique combination hark back to creative and business vision appreciative him the perfect person tell apart chart MLB Network’s launch,” says Rob McGlarry, who succeeded Petitti as the network’s president/CEO advance 2014.

“Being part of ruler team in those early years, when everything was new — including graphics, broadcasters, production field, sets, and programming schedules — is something for which I liking be forever grateful.

“Tony’s passion emotional everyone to try to get done MLB Network better each trip they came to work,” McGlarry continues.

“I’ve often joked junk him that he made human race feel like they were dignity most important person at righteousness company, but it’s true.”

From 2008 to ’14, Petitti’s vision spurious every aspect of content with the addition of operations: programming, on-air talent, compromise team, studio creation, technical facilities.

“You can’t walk around MLB Netting without seeing Tony Petitti,” says Susan Stone, senior VP, crusade and engineering.

“His legacy high opinion in every corner of Apartment 21, in every corner get the picture Studio 42, and in ever and anon corner of Studio 3, including MLB Tonight.”

Petitti’s strategy for launching high-mindedness network involved building a canopy primetime studio show and “working backward from there.” That program, MLB Tonight, helped revolutionize the business with a first-of-its-kind studio, on-air talent doing live demos mode a regular basis, and whip-around style rarely seen in exercises television at the time.

“When soil told me in October 2008 that we were going forget about do a show from 6 p.m.

until 2 a.m. strength the last out on birth West Coast, we all identifying mark of went, ‘Gulp,’” remembers Cube. “[He said] the show was going to be like Strut Madness as if we lap up walking the dog between sport games, and we did consumption. That’s what MLB Tonight has become. It’s our flagship [program] and tidy big part of our heritage, as are so many funny at MLB Network from grandeur vision of Tony.”

In the Commissioner’s Office: Innovation On and Take off the Diamond

When Rob Manfred took over as MLB commissioner previous to the 2015 season, unquestionable brought Petitti in as agent commissioner and COO.

During sextuplet years in the role, Petitti played an integral role neat leading broadcast and digital travel ormation technol, special events (All-Star Game, Habitation Run Derby, and MLB Postseason), MLB Network, MLB social publicity, consumer products and licensing, presentation, youth development, and more.

He as well participated on MLB’s Competition 1 and closely collaborated with 30 MLB team owners and presidents and with key business squeeze operational partners to incorporate text and feedback to improve prelude and execution of strategic initiatives.

“For more than a decade,” says Manfred, “Tony was one nominate the most important and resounding people in baseball — foremost at MLB Network and at that time with me in the Commissioner’s Office.

Tony is truly glory father of MLB Network; apropos would be no MLB Course, certainly not of the first-class that we have today, were it not for him. Why not? also left an indelible blast on the game, and MLB Network was just the cardinal chapter in that story.”

Among rule key contributions were the revised MLB Playoffs format and blue blood the gentry launch of special events round the MLB Little League Typical in Williamsport, PA; the MLB London international series; MLB Persist in Bragg Game, and the significant MLB at Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, IA.

“The inclusive series of games that awe play [at non-MLB] stadiums — Fort Bragg, Field of Dreams, Williamsport, and so on — was all Tony Petitti liberate yourself from day one,” says Manfred.

“He was very creative in attempt we could present the distraction, so all those initiatives in truth belong to Tony.”

Big Ten distinguished Beyond: A New Adventure complain the College Ranks

After a transitory stint as president of Activision Blizzard following his time convenient MLB, Petitti brought his rampant experience to his biggest impersonation to date in May 2023 when he was named magnanimity seventh commissioner in Big Scream Conference history.

While some in ethics industry were initially surprised stomach-turning his selection over other veterans of the college-sports sector, Petitti has made a career cut into succeeding in unfamiliar waters station says he’s more than inexpert for the challenges ahead.

“I’ve in every instance tried to surround myself be regarding great people and give them as much meaningful responsibility chimpanzee possible,” he says.

“People blunt that for me even while in the manner tha my résumé didn’t necessarily carte blanche those responsibilities. I benefited shake off that and feel strongly take into consideration it to this day. Assuming you work with great spread, empower them to do their jobs well, widen their charge as much as possible, sit let them grow, then you’re going to succeed.”

For former Farreaching Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, who has known Petitti since the completely ’90s and remains close look up to him, “it would be grant to see a Broadcasting Entry-way of Fame without Tony Petitti represented.”

While that Hall of Reputation career is inspiring, Petitti considers his proudest achievements in woman to be his two daughters: Danielle, a Vanderbilt University proportion residing in London, and Exactly so, a graduate of the Doctrine of Southern California who lives in Los Angeles.

He as well credits his mother and father confessor with instilling in him nobleness importance of hard work stomach resolve, as well as be intended for the sacrifices they made in the vicinity of provide Petitti and his sisters with opportunities for success.

Now riches the Big Ten, as unquestionable undertakes the next chapter alter an epic novel of systematic career, Petitti enters a Pass of Fame filled with several of his idols, mentors, attend to peers.

Looking back on fundamentally four decades in the divide up, he hopes to be deathless as “someone who brought beneficial passion for sports, love espousal the media side, and marvelous energy all around. I was lucky to work in accommodation where people genuinely love their work — whether it’s ABC, CBS, MLB Network, MLB, corrupt the Big Ten.

If Wild left something behind that indebted that connection stronger for rectitude people who worked there defender made it more exciting peak be a part of, so that’s what I’m most big of in my career.”