CBS Sports on Tuesday announced a leadership change with longtime Chairman Sean McManus set to retire in April, with current division president, David Berson, succeeding him as chairman and CEO.
McManus is retiring after leading CBS Sports for 27 years. He played an instrumental role in re-acquiring the rights to NFL games in 1998, and helped strike deals with NCAA, Big Ten, PGA Tour, UEFA and more.
“I am pleased to leave CBS Sports in an even stronger place than when I arrived, knowing that all of our marquee properties are locked up through this decade and beyond,” he said in a note.
Berson has served as president of CBS Sports for the last decade, and will assume the role upon McManus’s departure.
It’s the second leadership announcement in as many days, with NBCUniversal having named Rick Cordella as president of NBC Sports. These executives take the reins amid a major shift in the content world, with sports programming in particular taking center stage in the world of streaming. Berson and Cordella will both need to navigate this changing dynamic, balancing the needs of traditional sports broadcast, which generates the most revenue, with audiences’ desire to move to streaming.
It’s expected to be a smooth transition. As president, Berson oversees CBS Sports’ broadcast, cable, digital and streaming assets and sets the direction for the division.
“It has been the privilege of my career to have a front-row seat and work alongside Sean for the past 13 years,” said Berson. “He is the ultimate leader, mentor and friend. I look forward to carrying on the high standards he established, which help define CBS Sports. It is a genuine honor to lead our incomparable CBS Sports team and continue working closely with our world-class partners.”