Steven M. Bornstein
President and CEO
NFL Network

Steven M. Bornstein, the president and CEO of NFL Network since January 2003, teamed with Jim Valvano to start The V Foundation for Cancer Research while president of ESPN in 1993.

Prior taking over the helm of NFL Television, Bornstein served as president of ABC Television, overseeing ABC Television Network, ABC’s 10 owned television stations, Touchstone Television and Buena Vista Television, a provider of syndicated television programming.

Bornstein has been the driving force behind the development of numerous cable, broadcast and online businesses operated by divisions of The Walt Disney Company. He has served as chairman of Walt Disney Internet Group, where he implemented groundbreaking initiatives in Enhanced TV, interactive online content and wireless applications. He also has served as president of ABC, Inc., and, before that, he played a leading role in the unparalleled success of ESPN.

Mr. Bornstein began his career as a producer, and later executive producer, at WOSU-TV in Columbus, Ohio. In January 1980, he joined ESPN as manager of programming when the cable sports network was a four-month-old start-up. He advanced through the network’s programming and production ranks, becoming ESPN’s youngest president and CEO in 1990 at age 38. Three years later, he was given the additional title of corporate vice president of Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.

During his tenure as ESPN president and CEO from 1990 to 1999, Bornstein led the company through a highly active period of network development and brand extension. This included the launches of ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic and ESPN Radio; global expansion to numerous countries in their local languages; and various strategic acquisitions – all establishing ESPN, Inc., as the worldwide leader in sports entertainment and sports news. The company also pioneered the Internet’s first sports Website, ESPN.com.

In addition to guiding ESPN’s development from a sports network into the number one name in sports coverage, Bornstein also enhanced the ABC Sports brand. Along with Robert A. Iger (now president, COO and CEO-elect of The Walt Disney Company), Bornstein helped spearhead the agreement that kept the NFL on the ABC Television Network and ESPN.

While continuing his responsibilities at ESPN, Bornstein, was also named president of ABC Sports in 1996. He played a key role in establishing ABC Sports as the leading network of college football by creating the National Championship of College Football – the Bowl championship series.

In 1993, Bornstein joined with Jim Valvano to form The V Foundation for Cancer Research, honoring the memory of the legendary basketball coach.

A 1974 graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications, Bornstein is a recipient of the prestigious Vanguard Award for programmers, one of the highest honors given by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.