Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Dead at 85: RIP to Geoffrey Mason

Longtime sports broadcaster Geoffrey Mason has died. He was 85.

A cause of death for the sports icon was not announced.

Across his five-decade career, Mason worked for ABC, NBC, Fox, ESPN, the NFL Network, and more. If there was a major sporting event in the last 50 years, there’s a good chance Mason was working on it behind the scenes. In his time as a producer, he helmed coverage of events like the Olympics, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Indy 500, the Tour de France, PGA Tour, the World Series, and more.

“Geoff Mason was a friend and a colleague who had a storied career, touching just about every corner of the sports television industry,” Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, said in a statement. “He had a passion for the business, which was evidenced in his prodigious work ethic and the constant love and enthusiasm he exhibited on everything he worked on. He most certainly will be missed.”

Mason got his start at ABC Sports in 1967. He is perhaps best known for his work at the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics at ABC Sports. Instead of covering the Olympic events as the team originally set out to do, Mason and team opted to shift away from the games and cover the terrorist attack as it unfolded. The 2024 historical drama September 5 is a fictionalized retelling of the events, where John Magaro (The Big Short) stars as Mason.

He is survived by his wife, his son, and his brother.