NEW YORK — Texas Men’s Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds was honored among the best in sports business on Wednesday night during the fourth annual Sports Business Awards at New York’s Marriott Marquis Times Square.
Dodds was honored as the Athletic Director of the Year at the awards ceremony, which is presented by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily, the two leading publications on the business of sports.Dodds’ calm, thoughtful leadership pulled UT through the unpredictable summer climate of conference realignment. UT emerged as the leading member of a smaller Big 12, and in January, UT announced the creation of the Longhorn Network, the first sports network devoted to a single school.
“The coach in DeLoss comes out in the most pressure-filled situations, where he leads, he stays consistent and people absolutely respond,” said Chris Plonsky, UT’s Women’s Athletics Director.
ESPN, UT’s programming and production partner in the Longhorn Network, won for Best in Sports Media, and ESPN Networks was named the winner for Best in Sports Television. Additionally, George Bodenheimer, the president of ESPN/ABC Sports, was named the Sports Executive of the Year.
ESPN has a 20-year agreement to own and operate a year-round, 24-hour network dedicated to The University of Texas in partnership with UT and IMG College. Longhorn Network, scheduled to launch in August 2011, will offer a variety of content, highlighted by more than 200 exclusive events annually from 20 UT sports.
Awards were presented in 15 categories. Winners were chosen by a committee of outside panelists and members of the editorial staff of the SportsBusiness Journal/Daily.
