Fox Sports president/COO Mark Silverman is “stepping away from his current role” at the company “in the coming months,” it was announced Tuesday. Silverman, who first joined Fox Sports in 2018 as the president of its national networks, is moving into a consulting role with the company. John Ourand of Puck reported that Brad Zager, Fox Sports president of production and operations/executive producer, will be succeeding Silverman.
Silverman has been responsible for overseeing Fox Sports programming and production since 2018, helping develop the company’s programming strategy and serving an integral role in the creation of its “Big Noon Saturday” window and accompanying “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show. Prior to his time with Fox Sports, Silverman served as the president of Big Ten Network, which is a joint venture between Fox Corporation and the Big Ten Conference.
Silverman, in a statement, said that he was “immensely proud” of accomplishments at Fox Sports and Big Ten Network and that he is looking forward to his “next chapter.”
Silverman has been an executive at Fox Sports through key talent moves, such as hiring Tom Brady as an NFL analyst, adding Dave Portnoy to “Big Noon Kickoff” under a collaboration with Barstool Sports, and the rise of Joe Davis to lead MLB play-by-play announcer. He has also been present through an era of change at FS1, including the end of “Undisputed” with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, exit of EVP Charlie Dixon and various show lineup changes.
In a statement, Fox Sports CEO/EP Eric Shanks said Silverman’s contributions went “way beyond the bottom line,” crediting his impact on the culture of Fox Sports and the relationships the company has built with its partners.
Before working at Fox Sports and Big Ten Network, Silverman held executive roles at The Walt Disney Company within ABC Cable Networks and ABC Family Channel.
