ESPN Used Fake Emmy Scheme

The Athletic reports that for the past 13 years, ESPN has made up fake names for Emmy Awards in order to obtain statuettes for on-air talent who were ineligible to receive awards.

The NY Post writes that ESPN had operated the scheme since 2010 by submitting the names of fake individuals (with the same initials as their stars) under the guise of “associate producers,” re-engraving the statuettes and then delivering them to their on-air personalities. This scheme helped secure hardware for the on-air talent behind the success of “College GameDay.”

The hosts were not eligible to be honored for a best show award until 2023 because there are separate categories for individual awards.

In a statement to the Post, ESPN said, “Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names that may go back to 1997 in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes. This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team.”

As long as the Emmys were able to cash the checks, my guess is they didn’t mind.