Geoffrey Mason Obituary

Geoffrey Sheridan Mason (1940-2026)

Geoffrey Mason, one of sports television's most accomplished production executives, died January 25, 2026, at age 85.

A 24-time Emmy Award winner, Mason was a longtime executive and consultant at ESPN. He earlier served as Executive Producer at ABC Sports, where his credits included seven Olympic Games; Monday Night Football; Major League Baseball; the U.S. Open, PGA, and British Open; Triple Crown thoroughbred racing; the Indianapolis 500; Formula 1; Wimbledon; ABC's Wide World of Sports; and the Tour de France.

Mason helped coordinate coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage tragedy. His experience, and that of the ABC Sports team, was dramatized in the 2024 film September 5.

In 2003, Mason was on the launch team of the NFL Network in Culver City, California. In 2010, he was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Mason first worked at ABC Sports in 1967 as a runner during golf coverage, later serving as a production assistant under Roone Arledge and Chuck Howard.

He was born December 30, 1940, in Englewood, New Jersey, to Vernon L. "Pat" Mason and Martha Sheridan Mason, and grew up on Casey Key, Florida.

Mason later became Executive Producer and CEO of his own production company, Mainstay Communications, Inc. He also served as Senior Content Consultant for the Olympics at Discovery–Eurosport in Paris and was a member of the Advisory Board of Program Productions, Inc.

Mason served for 17 years on the Board of Directors of the Betty Ford Center and was a founding board member of the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

After entering treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1983, he devoted much of his life to helping others in their recovery journey. Mason developed a close friendship with the Ford family and eulogized the former First Lady at her 2011 funeral.

A lifelong sailor, Mason was on the crew of Nefertiti during the 1962 America's Cup Defender Trials. He was a member of the New York Yacht Club and the Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Early in his career, he covered yachting for the Boston Herald.

Mason graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology in 1963. He then served in the U.S. Navy.

Mason is survived by his wife, Chris Mason; his brother, David Mason (Charlann); and his son, Geoffrey Mason Jr.

To support the work that was a passion of Geoffrey's, the family requests that donations in his memory be made to:

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation:

https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org

or

V Foundation for Cancer Research:

https://www.v.org