William "Bill" Curtis MacPhail (March 25, 1920 - September 4, 1996) was a pioneer television sports executive.

Early career

MacPhail worked his way up in the front office of several minor league teams. He was traveling road secretary for the New York Yankees in 1946 and then worked for eight years for three minor league teams before becoming director of publicity for the Kansas City Athletics in 1955. CBS hired him the following year.

Broadcasting career

MacPhail is a former President of CBS Sports

CBS Sports

CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...

, where he worked from 1956-1973. Afterwards he was associated with Bob Wold, a satellite sports pioneer, and then brought to CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

 by Reese Schonfeld

Reese Schonfeld

Maurice "Reese" Schonfeld is an American television journalist who was co-founder of CNN and the Food Network.Schonfeld grew up in Newark, New Jersey, graduated from Dartmouth College and received an M.A. and a law degree from Columbia University....

 to create the CNN Sports department in 1980 upon its launch, which he ran until retiring from CNN in 1995. While at CBS Sports, Bill MacPhail is credited with implementing instant replay

Instant replay

Instant replay is the replaying of video footage of an event or incident very soon after it has occurred. In television broadcasting of sports events, instant replay is often used during live broadcast, to show a passage of play which was important or remarkable, or which was unclear on first...

 for the first time in sports — during the Army-Navy Game

Army-Navy Game

The Army–Navy Game is an an American college football rivalry game between the teams of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. The USMA team, "Army", and the USNA team, "Navy", each represent their services' oldest...

 of 1963.

MacPhail is known for hiring famous broadcasting talent. He hired sportscaster legends from Chris Schenkel

Chris Schenkel

Christopher Eugene "Chris" Schenkel was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice.-Early life and career:Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio...

, Jim McKay

Jim McKay

James Kenneth McManus , better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist....

, to Dan Patrick

Dan Patrick

Daniel Patrick Pugh , professionally known as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor from Mason, Ohio...

. He hired former New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 kicker Pat Summerall

Pat Summerall

George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN.Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox.-High school:...

 as a sportscaster at CBS. He also hired Frank Gifford

Frank Gifford

Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....

, Jack Buck

Jack Buck

John Francis "Jack" Buck was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. Buck received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, and is honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame...

, and golf producer Frank Chirkinian

Frank Chirkinian

Frank Chirkinian was an Armenian-American CBS Sports producer and director. He is most notable for his work on golf coverage, though he also directed coverage of the Winter Olympics, the United States Open Tennis Championships, college and professional American football, auto racing and the Triple...

.

MacPhail is recognized for helping CBS Sports acquire the television rights to numerous sporting events, including the 1960 Winter

1960 Winter Olympics

The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...

 & Summer

1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

 Olympics

Olympics on CBS

The Olympics on CBS was a sports telecast that aired on CBS Sports. The last airing of the telecast was for the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano.-1960s coverage:...

 in Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley Ski Resort

Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley, California, is one of the largest ski areas in the United States, and was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. It is the second-largest ski area at Lake Tahoe , with 33 chairlifts, and has the only funitel lift in the U.S...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 respectively, the NBA, the Masters Tournament (CBS

PGA Tour on CBS

PGA Tour on CBS is a television program produced by CBS Sports that broadcasts the main professional golf tours in the United States.-Coverage overview:In January 2006, the PGA Tour announced a new set of television deals covering 2007 to 2012...

 still holds the television rights to this day), and Major League Baseball.

While head of CNN Sports, MacPhail acquired news rights from Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA and other sporting events so that CNN might carry TV clips of all major sporting events. He also mentored current CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton (journalist)

Jim Walton (journalist)

Jim Walton is the president of CNN Worldwide. He joined CNN in 1981, one year after the network was founded.He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1981. Jim started his career at CNN as a VJ an entry level position. Jim has two sons, Jake and Max.-External links:*...

. At CNN, MacPhail hired sports anchors Nick Charles

Nick Charles

Nicholas Charles Nickeas , better known as Nick Charles, was an American sportscaster and journalist. He was one of CNN's first on-air personalities and won three CableACE Awards for best sports program during his 17-year tenure as co-host of the network's Sports Tonight...

, Bob Kurtz (broadcaster)

Bob Kurtz (broadcaster)

Bob Kurtz is an American sportscaster, currently broadcasting games for the Minnesota Wild hockey team. He has previously been a play-by-play announcer for the...

, Fred Hickman

Fred Hickman

Fred Hickman is an American sports broadcaster who has had stints with CNN, TBS, YES Network, and ESPN. Born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, he graduated Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1978, joining as an original co-host of the CNN show Sports Tonight in 1980...

, Jim Huber, Dan Patrick

Dan Patrick

Daniel Patrick Pugh , professionally known as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor from Mason, Ohio...

, Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann

Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...

, Hannah Storm

Hannah Storm

Hannah Storm is an American television sports journalist, serving as co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter Monday–Thursday mornings, and is also host of the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC as part of the network's NBA Sunday game coverage.-Early life and career:Storm was born in Oak Park, Illinois,...

, Dan Hicks

Dan Hicks (sportscaster)

John Daniel "Dan" Hicks is an American sportscaster for NBC. His primary duties for the network include play-by-play commentary for golf, but he also does occasional play-by-play commentary for The AFL on NBC and Notre Dame football...

, and Daryn Kagan

Daryn Kagan

Daryn A. Kagan is creator and host of the award-winning , a media company specializing in inspirational and motivational news content...

, among others.

Awards

In 1989, MacPhail was the first recipient of Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

’s Pete Rozelle

Pete Rozelle

Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world....

 Radio-Television Award. The award, has been given out annually since, by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and recognizes “long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”

Personal

MacPhail was born in Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. He graduated from Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....

 and served in the Navy

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

.

Bill MacPhail is the son of Larry MacPhail

Larry MacPhail

Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail, Sr. was an American lawyer, and an executive and innovator in Major League Baseball.-Biography:...

, former President of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who introduced night baseball when he was President of the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 at a game on May 24, 1935 at Crosley Field

Crosley Field

Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second and third American Football League...

 in Cincinnati between the Reds and Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

. Bill’s brother Lee MacPhail

Lee MacPhail

Leland Stanford MacPhail, Jr. is an American retired front-office executive in Major League Baseball...

, is a former President of the American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 and former General Manager of the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

.

Both Bill’s brother Lee MacPhail and their father Larry MacPhail are the only father-son combination inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bill’s nephew Andy MacPhail

Andy MacPhail

Andy MacPhail is the former president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles. He was the president/CEO of the National League Chicago Cubs from September 9, 1994 until October 1, 2006...

 is President of the Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

.