Scott Young, who heads up Sky Sports’ Formula 1 channels, is to leave the UK pay-television broadcaster to join Discovery-owned Eurosport later this year in the position of senior vice-president, production and content.
Young (pictured, below), who has overseen Sky Sports’ Formula 1 content since the start of 2018, will take up his new position in September.
He will replace Dave Schafer, senior vice-president of production and operations. Schafer, who is understood to be returning to the US, will leave Eurosport at the end of the year, ensuring a handover period with Young.
Young is also the former general manager of television and content at Supercars, the Australian touring car series, and the former executive producer of motorsport at Australian free-to-air commercial broadcaster Ten Network.
He will be based in London and Paris and will report to Andrew Georgiou, president, Eurosport and global sports rights and sports marketing solutions.
Georgiou said today (Monday): “Scott is one of the most talented and progressive leaders in sports production and it’s hugely exciting to welcome him to the Discovery family. He joins at a pivotal time for our business as we prepare to realise the opportunities delivered by the transformation of Eurosport’s global technology infrastructure, one of Discovery’s most significant capital investments.
“This will revolutionise how we deliver sport to fans, using cloud and remote technology within a unified production ecosystem for broadcast and digital to create and distribute world-class content from anywhere in the world.
“When you consider a project as complex as the Olympic Games, where Discovery serves fans in 50 markets, localised and in 19 languages, across its full range of free-to-air, pay-tv and digital platforms, it is clear this will be a game-changer for the scale and flexibility of our business.”
Discovery holds the Olympics broadcast rights in Europe (excluding Russia) from 2018 to 2024 in a €1.3bn ($1.47bn) agreement.
Eurosport said that Young would be “responsible for developing a unique and integrated content offering across broadcast and digital, realising opportunities presented by Eurosport’s enhanced digital products and broader technology transformation”.
The broadcaster continued: “In an exciting period set to see the safe return of live sport, Young will lead the production and operations for all Eurosport’s flagship events including the Olympic Games, cycling Grand Tours, tennis Grand Slams and winter sports World Championship and World Cup events”.
Schafer has been with the Discovery group for just over 12 years. The US-based media giant assumed full ownership of Eurosport in 2015.
Schafer was named senior vice-president, content and production in May 2019. This came as Emir Osmanbegovic left his Paris-based role as Discovery’s senior vice-president of sports content and production to head back to Sweden. Osmanbegovic now heads up the sports arm at Nexiko, the independent production company with offices in Stockholm, Oslo and Los Angeles.
Young said today: “Eurosport is one of the world’s most respected and highly regarded sports producers. I am impressed at how Eurosport’s production and on-screen experience has evolved under Discovery’s leadership. While its record-breaking Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 production and award winning Eurosport cube made waves through the industry, it is clear that the company hasn’t stood still and the production infrastructure it has created is groundbreaking. I look forward to getting started.”
At Ten, Young led the broadcaster’s production of motorsports coverage including Formula 1, MotoGP, the World Rally Championship, IndyCar and World Superbikes.
