Maria Soares Promoted To Senior Vice President, Production & Content Strategy at ESPN

Maria Soares has been promoted to ESPN Senior Vice President, Production & Content Strategy.

What Happened:

  • Maria Soares, who has been with ESPN since 1992, has been promoted to ESPN Senior Vice President, Production and Content Strategy.
  • This was announced today by Norby Williamson, Executive Editor and Head of Event and Studio Production. She was previously Vice President, Production.
  • In her new role, she will be responsible for the morning and afternoon editions of SportsCenter.
  • This will include the noon ET show on weekdays and the morning shows on weekdays and weekends.
  • She will be overseeing content creation and strategy for studio production and focus on maximizing ESPN’s audience through strategic efforts, via SportsCenter, ESPN+, Event Production, Digital, sport-specific studio shows and more.
  • In addition to that, she will manage ESPN’s industry-leading universal news group. They make editorial decisions, strategize and handle logistics across platforms.
  • She'll have responsibility for the Universal coverage group, which includes ESPN’s bureau staff, coverage producers and assignment editors.
  • "In her distinguished tenure at ESPN, Maria has shown a consistent drive for results, while remaining ever-focused on serving sports fans of all backgrounds," Williamson said. "Maria is an innovator and a strategic thinker, who always brings new ideas, passion and strong business acumen. She has played an integral role in positively influencing countless projects over the years and is widely respected for her emphasis on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion."
  • Her first 25 years in the industry were spent with ESPN International and ESPN Deportes.
  • She's played a crucial role in launching more than 10 ESPN networks and providing video support for more than 12 global ESPN.com editions.
  • She's always been involved in producing content in multiple languages and collaborating with other ESPN production facilities around the world.
  • Her most recent project she oversaw was for the global soccer production unit established in the fall of 2021.
  • Maria has also led the coverage of NCAA Volleyball and NCAA Gymnastics since 2019.
  • She originally joined ESPN in 1992 while she was studying Broadcast Journalism at Emerson College.
  • During her time at ESPN she has a long list of production credits including four Olympic Games, four Pan American Games, the 2000 Home Run Derby (the launch of ESPN Deportes), the first-ever, Spanish-language coverage of the X Games, and numerous Super Bowls, Grand Slams, Cricket World Cups, and Major Soccer Championships.
  • She will be replacing Jill Frederickson, who announced earlier in the year that she was planning to retire.