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Geoffrey Mason has a 50-year career in sports television and is best known for his role as coordinating producer of Sports Television. ABCcoverage of 1972 Munich Olympics hostages Crisis is dead. He is 85 years old.
ESPN mason died sunday Naples, Florida. He died of natural causes, according to his family.
“Jeff was a great visionary in television who never sought credit. He preferred to lead and mentor teams, connect people to projects, and work on people and recovery of all kinds. He was a great teacher and mentor to everyone who came into his orbit,” former ESPN said President Steve Bernstein.
During his career, Mason competed in eight Olympic Games. On September 5, 1972, as a young producer, he Munich, Germany,when Palestine Militant group “Black September” attacks and takes over Olympic Village Israel Olympic team members were held hostage.
ABC Providing 22 hours of continuous coverage, the rescue effort ultimately failed, resulting in the deaths of six Israeli coaches and five athletes. Jim McKay broke the news: “They’re all gone.”
Mason serves as consultant on all aspects of script and production of 2024 feature film September 5recreating the situation in the ABC control room that day. The Munich International Broadcast Center is 100 meters away from the Olympic Village hostage crisis.
The film recreates the moment West German police burst into the control room and pointed a gun in Mason’s face. This happened as an ABC camera showed a tactical team taking up position on the roof above the hostages. Mason eventually cut off the camera feed.
It is estimated that nearly 900 million people around the world have watched ABC’s coverage at some point.
“Jeff told me that day that they didn’t have a chance to think. Their only goal was to stay on the air, keep the story going and do their job as a sports broadcaster,” said John Magaro, who plays Mason in 2025. “Once the clock started ticking, there was no chance to think.”
Mason spent most of his career at ABC and ESPN, but he also worked for nbcfox, National Football League Networkand other television entities. In 1967, he began working as a production assistant at ABC Sports, where he worked on “Wide World of Sports” and the 1968 Winter and Summer Olympics. Over the years, he has earned 24 Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010.
He also participated in Super Bowl XXV, monday night footballworld series, horse racing Triple Crownthe Indianapolis 500 and the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cup Championships.
He is also known for his coverage of the 1986-87 America’s Cup Fremantle, Australia.
“Jeff Mason was a friend and colleague who had a storied career that touched nearly every corner of the sports television industry,” said Bob IgerCEO walt disney companyowns ABC and ESPN. “He has a passion for this industry, which is reflected in his excellent work ethic and the continued love and enthusiasm he brings to everything he does.
Mason was selected as a founding board member of the V Cancer Research Foundation by Jim Valvano and a long-time board member of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. In 2011, he delivered the eulogy at Betty Ford’s funeral.
Mason was a U.S. Navy veteran and graduated from Duke University degree in Sociology in 1963. Survivors include wife chrisson Jeff Jr. and brother david.