Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, is responsible for all sports programming on the NBC and USA networks, along with overseeing every aspect of NBC Universal’s involvement with the Olympic Games.

Ebersol, known for his ability to bring large television audiences together, is recently responsible for two record-breaking television events. The Beijing Olympic Games became the most watched event in U.S. television history with a record 215 million viewers and Super Bowl XLIII became the largest single audience in U.S. television history with a record 152 million viewers.  To prove how influential he is at amassing record-breaking audiences, throughout his storied career he has produced eight of the top ten most-watched events in U.S. television history.

Ebersol is a fixture at the top of any list of the most influential and powerful people in sports. Fortune magazine called him “a powerbroker” who “has practically done it all in a storied TV career.” Over more than three decades in television, he stands alone as an executive who has played a prominent role in the wide-ranging fields of sports, entertainment and news.  Possessing a rare combination of a producer’s creative vision with the savvy and business acumen of a CEO, Ebersol leads with passion, drive and a commitment to excellence. 

While the cornerstones of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics under Ebersol’s leadership are superior production, true partnerships and fiscal responsibility, his crowning achievement has been establishing NBC Universal as the home of the Olympic Games – television’s most powerful franchise – through 2012.  Beginning in 1967, when he temporarily dropped out of Yale University to join Roone Arledge and ABC Sports as television’s first-ever Olympic researcher, Ebersol has continually forged new paths. In 2005, Ebersol was inducted into both the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and in 2006, he received the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Trustees Award. Ebersol was also awarded the Olympic Order, an honor periodically bestowed by the International Olympic Committee to recognize remarkable contributions to the Olympic Movement. 

Ebersol serves as executive producer for 'NBC Sunday Night Football,' the NFL’s premier primetime game. He negotiated the unprecedented six-year deal, which includes innovative flexible scheduling and Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012.

In 1974, after six years at ABC Sports, Ebersol joined NBC as Director of Weekend Late Night Programming.  In 1975, Ebersol hired independent producer Lorne Michaels and together they conceived and developed “Saturday Night Live.”  Named Vice President, Late Night Programming at age 28, Ebersol became NBC's first ever vice president under the age of 30 and in 1977 he was named NBC’s Vice President of Comedy, Variety & Event Programming.

He returned to 'SNL' in 1981 as executive producer and remained there until 1985, spanning the Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal eras. 

In1989, Ebersol served as president of NBC Sports. From 1989-91 Ebersol also held the title of Senior Vice President, NBC News.