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Anchoring With Authenticity
Jonathan Crowl
How ESPN’s Chris Cotter, Mgt 93, pushed—and was pushed—to claim one of sports broadcasting’s top jobs. Some legendary ESPN SportsCenter an-
chors such as Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick were known for their distinct styles and witty catchphrases, but it’s fitting that current deskman Chris Cotter doesn’t bother with building up an oversized on-air persona. Instead, he sticks to the shtick that brought him to sports broadcasting’s biggest stage: being himself. “For me, it’s all about being true to who I was,” Cotter says. Cotter’s broadcasting brand is his authenticity—he’s the same guy during broadcasts that he is when he’s off camera. That businesslike approach has brought him a long way. He’s been working for “the worldwide leader” in sports broadcasting since 2012. “I felt like if I could go to ESPN and succeed there, at worst, that opens up opportunities in so many other areas,” Cotter says. “But I came here with the intention of being here the rest of my career.” Cotter’s career is even more impressive considering its relatively late start. As a Georgia Tech undergraduate, broadcasting wasn’t even on his radar when he was studying business management. In fact, his first job in broadcasting was handling radio ad sales for 790 The Zone in Atlanta. But one fateful evening in 1997, Cotter was invited down to the station during a nightly sports radio program, just to observe how a show was put together. That night, two of the show’s three hosts called in sick. The third host met Cotter at the station’s front door and told Cotter he was going in front of the microphone. “‘It’s just you and me tonight,’” Cotter recalls being told. “‘For the next three hours, 028
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you and me are doing sports talk radio.’” The morning after, Cotter had earned the station owner’s praises—and an offer to contribute on more programs. He was working on his MBA from the University of Georgia at the time, and he thought he was moving forward with his business career. “Going back to school get my MBA was one of the best decisions of my life because it gave me a totally renewed focus on my personal life and career,” Cotter says. “I was
much more willing to take chances and to embrace failure as an opportunity. That attitude certainly helped make the decision to move into broadcasting full time an easier one.” As sports talk radio grew in popularity and spread to stations across the country, Cotter had an enviable position: He worked in a large market with an entrenched following. Over time, he even started contributing segments to CNN on ESPN