As the longtime head of CBS Sports, Sean McManus looked a lot to the future of the division he ran for nearly three decades, as he also paid close attention to its day-to-day operations. So, it was not surprising that he had a couple of things in mind when he first met and then interviewed in the summer of 2010 a top programming executive at ESPN named David Berson.
For starters, McManus needed someone to run what was then called CBS College Sports, a cable venture within the division that had initially focused on collegiate athletics but evolved into more of a mainstream sports service.
But in the back of his mind, McManus had also started thinking about his successor.
“An executive search firm had recommended David to us, and I talked to him after he had seen Human Resources,” McManus said. “Our meeting went extremely well.”
So well, in fact, that some months later, CBS, which is part of Paramount Global, hired Berson to be executive vice president of CBS Sports as well as president of CBS College Sports. He officially assumed those positions in January 2011.
“Soon after David started, it became clear that he was one day going to lead CBS Sports,” McManus said. “And in fairly short order, he became my confidant in everything I did.”
Then in June 2013, a mere 2½ years after Berson had joined the network, McManus tapped him to become president of the division, which presents each season the Masters, PGA Championship and roughly two-thirds of the primary PGA Tour/FedEx Cup season, including this week’s 3M Open. In addition, CBS also carries NFL football and the annual NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, better known as March Madness.
That made Berson his No. 2 as well as his eventual successor.
Almost immediately, McManus began grooming him to take over.
“We have been joined at the hip for a decade,” said Berson, 52, a 10-time Emmy winner and the father of two college-aged children. “We did everything together. I was with Sean for every negotiation, every trip, every flight, every meeting and every significant hire.”
“Sean and I also played a lot of golf together.” – David Berson
The last of those included bringing on color analysts Trevor Immelman for golf and Tony Romo for football and having Ian Eagle succeed Jim Nantz as the lead play-by-play person for the Final Four during March Madness as well as Sellers Shy taking over from Lance Barrow as the lead golf producer.
“Sean and I also played a lot of golf together,” Berson added.
Some two years ago, they settled on the date when McManus would retire, which would be after the 2024 Masters. At that point, the transition began, and both men say it has been an extremely smooth one, with a very well-prepared Berson taking on the title of president and chief executive officer of CBS Sports this past April.
Though golf is but one sport in the network’s portfolio of properties, it is regarded as among the most important. The long-standing relationship with the Masters, going back to CBS Sports bringing that tournament to television for the first time in 1956, is a big part of that. So is the company’s six-decade connection to the PGA Tour, with the current contract between the two entities running through 2030. CBS Sports also has televised some 41 PGA Championships – and is contracted with the PGA of America to carry that major through 2030.
By all accounts, McManus did a bang-up job when it came to building and then growing those associations. And for the last 14 years of his time as CEO at CBS Sports, he saw up-close and personal just what Berson brought to the network.
“CBS Sports is in many ways the network of record for the sport of golf in this country, and with David at the helm, I am confident that this will last for decades to come,” McManus said. “He is a perfectionist, and his oversight of CBS’ golf coverage reflects that in so many ways in front of and behind the camera.
“David loves the game,” McManus added. “And his deep knowledge of the history and legacy of golf is clearly evident in CBS’ presentation week in and week out.”
McManus pauses before providing a bit of insight into Berson’s connection to golf of a more personal nature.
“I have probably played more rounds with David in the last 10 years than anyone,” McManus said. “He is a fierce competitor and an excellent partner, and there is no one I would rather tee it up with.”
The youngest of two children, Berson grew up in Hewlett, New York, a hamlet in Nassau County on Long Island, some 30 miles east of Manhattan. His father, Mark, was an aeronautical engineer and part of the team that developed and built the Apollo Lunar Module for Grumman Aircraft, which was located in nearby Bethpage. Later in life, the senior Berson switched careers to become a stockbroker for Oppenheimer & Co. Along the way, he developed a passion for youth soccer, and that included coaching and running local leagues. He died some 25 years ago.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in communications with a business minor, Berson went to work full-time at ESPN, staying there for 16 years before his fateful meeting with McManus.
As for Berson’s mother, Annette, she is still alive, having retired after a long career as an elementary school teacher who handled second-graders and also worked with those children in special education.
“I loved sports, and my main ones were soccer and basketball,” Berson said. “Unfortunately, I never swung a golf club until after college. I really wish I had started sooner.”
After graduating from Hewlett High School, Berson enrolled at the University of Michigan.
“I thought for a time about whether I should play soccer at a D-III school or be a fan at a D-I college,” he said. “My sister, Barrie, and I were close, and she had gone to Michigan. So, that is where I ended up. I was pre-med in my sophomore year but then changed course after reading some articles about scheduling college basketball games and negotiating television deals for Major League Baseball. Sports was everything to me, and as I learned more about it being a business, and a real growth business at that, I started focusing on getting into it in that way.”
That year, Berson secured the first of what would turn out to be a total of six internships during his time at Michigan, all of which related to sports media – and the last of which was at ESPN. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in communications with a business minor, Berson went to work full-time at ESPN, staying there for 16 years before his fateful meeting with McManus.
“Basically, I grew up at ESPN,” said the boyish-looking, bespectacled Berson. “I took an entry-level position in the programming department right after college, in the summer of 1994. And in my 16 years there, I had as many different jobs. The company was growing so much and so fast that there were lots of opportunities.”
By the time of his 2010 interview with McManus, Berson had risen to be an executive vice president at ESPN, charged with co-running its programming department and being responsible for programming strategy, scheduling and development while driving audience consumption for all of ESPN’s domestic television networks and digital video media platforms.
ESPN also happened to be where Berson met his wife, Katie Lacey, who was senior vice president of marketing there after spending a dozen years as a marketing executive at PepsiCo. After marrying Berson in the summer of 2010, Lacey went on to serve as CEO of Crane Stationery. She also co-authored a best-selling book on gender bias in the workplace, “You Should Smile More Often,” with five female colleagues from her PepsiCo days who dubbed themselves the Band of Sisters.
“All told, we have more than 500 on staff, but the number of people working for us through the year rises into the thousands when you count our part-timers and freelancers.” – David Berson
Ask Berson to describe his new position at CBS Sports, and he says it entails “leading a team of really talented people across various areas.”
“Programming is one of those, and that includes the rights agreements and relationships we have with many marquee partners, among them the NFL, the NCAA and also Augusta National, the PGA of America and the PGA Tour,” he said. “Then, there is production, operations, marketing and communications. Legal and HR, too. All told, we have more than 500 on staff, but the number of people working for us through the year rises into the thousands when you count our part-timers and freelancers.”
Berson does not get into specifics when asked about finances, only to say that the numbers go “into billions of dollars in terms of our budgets and revenue.”
“Clearly, the value of sports to our company is substantial and arguably growing every day,” he said.
Berson uses the word “team” a lot when he talks about his job.
“That is my favorite part, the team aspect,” he said. “Figuring out the challenges we have with each event and watching our people deliver every time. What they do is unlike anything else, and they do it so well. And I am lucky to have a team of very talented individuals who enjoy working together and have great respect for each other and what they all do.”
Berson enjoys being with his team and smiles as he recalls spending his 52th birthday with them this summer on the Saturday of the Travelers Championship in June.
“I also love that we are able to be together at the Masters and the PGA Championship as well as at events like Pebble Beach, the Memorial and the Travelers.”
“Playing the game is my favorite thing to do, other than spending time with my family. I love watching golf as well. I genuinely care about the game and appreciate its importance to us at CBS Sports. It is one of our key pillars of programming.” – David Berson
He loves his golf, too.
“Playing the game is my favorite thing to do, other than spending time with my family,” said Berson, who puts his handicap index in the high single digits and occasionally tees it up with his wife. “I love watching golf as well. I genuinely care about the game and appreciate its importance to us at CBS Sports. It is one of our key pillars of programming.”
In assessing how his successor will run that division, McManus said: “We are so much alike and think the same way that I expect his demeanor and approach will be very similar to mine. But he will no doubt have his own style and touch.”
Looking at his domain, Berson describes CBS Sports as being “in a very favorable position.”
“We have rights agreements for our marquee properties locked up for many years,” he said. “At the same time, however, we have to keep our eyes wide open to changes and challenges because the media landscape evolves so rapidly. CBS Sports has been a well-regarded and well-respected brand for generations. But we have to continue to be as relevant for fans today and tomorrow as we were for those of yesterday.”
The sense is that Berson is the right man for the job.