Jimmy Platt
Director
ESPN
About Jimmy Platt
Jimmy Platt is one of the sports industry’s most accomplished directors. He is the lead director for ESPN’s industry-leading college football coverage, and he previously spent four seasons directing ESPN’s Monday Night Football games.
Platt, who began as a freelancer in 2005 and has been a full-time ESPN employee since 2010, has worked a variety of other high-profile sports throughout his career, including NFL and college football, men’s and women’s college basketball, Major League Baseball and lacrosse. He is the lead director for the NCAA Women’s Final Four and ESPN’s top women’s basketball crew throughout the season.
Platt was named the director of ABC’s Saturday Night Football primetime package in March 2023. In this role, Platt directs the College Football Playoff National Championship, an annual CFP semifinal matchup and a game in both the first round and quarterfinals.
From 2019-22, Platt was the director for ESPN’s Monday Night Football. His work on sports television’s signature series included MNF’s milestone 50th season. Platt was also widely praised for how ESPN’s production team covered Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest during a game in 2022.
Platt has directed football since he joined ESPN full-time in 2010. He started with SEC Primetime games on ESPNU before moving onto the ESPN2 primetime crew in 2011, doing mostly SEC matchups. Platt continued in that role through the 2014 season, culminating in the opportunity to direct the Peach Bowl, the first of the New Year’s Six bowls. From 2015-19, Platt directed college football games on ESPN and ABC, including five New Year’s Six bowls – the Peach Bowl (twice), Cotton Bowl (twice) and Sugar Bowl.