IRVINE, Calif. (August 4, 2021) – The Big West has named Dennis Kirkpatrick as the Director of Broadcast Production and Operations.
 
In his role, Kirkpatrick will develop and implement a broadcast strategy for Big West championships, including hiring and managing vendors and broadcast talent, producing shows and creating the Big West’s overall look. He will serve as the conference’s primary point of contact with Big West institutions, media partners and championship venues on all production-related matters, with the goal of improving and expanding the quality and quantity of all Big West productions on all platforms.
 
Kirkpatrick will also be charged with oversight of Big West ancillary programming, which may include season preview shows, academic awards shows as well as competition and championship recaps.
 
“With our new partnership with ESPN, and moving to campus-based production, I am very excited to welcome Dennis Kirkpatrick to The Big West,” said Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly. “He brings significant experience in production and broadcast operations, and he has successfully mentored and maximized the output of production teams in all sportscasting protocol. He will help elevate the quality of our content, including on our ESPN+ platform where more than 600 events will be produced annually, and help The Big West tell the amazing stories of our student-athletes.”
 
Kirkpatrick has spent the last 35 years as a freelance producer for networks such as Pac-12 Productions, ESPN, Fox Sports, ABC and CBS. He has produced sporting telecasts for the NBA, MLB, NFL, NCAA Championships, and the College Football Playoffs.
 
A graduate of the University of Arkansas with a B.A. degree in Journalism, Kirkpatrick also served as a network correspondent and play-by-play sports anchor for CNN Sports/Turner Broadcasting. For Univision Sports, he produced and packaged an international Oscar De La Hoya boxing broadcast on HBO and Pay-Per-View. In addition, he was an Olympic Venue Telecast Producer during the Barcelona (1996) and Atlanta (2000) games.
 
He also initiated the sports journalism program at California State University, East Bay. As an Adjunct Professor since 2015, Kirkpatrick has developed courses in television production and sports politics. From 2010-14, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas, instructing students in television production and broadcast operations. He launched Razorvision Academy offering students the opportunity to help produce telecasts of sporting events and coaching programs. At both stops, courses he taught include “Introduction to Sports Reporting,” “Introduction to Studio Production,” and “Sports Television Production II.”
 
“I would like to thank Dan Butterly for the opportunity to lend my experience and expertise to The Big West, and I can’t wait to get started,” said Kirkpatrick, who also earned his Master of Arts in Journalism, Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism from the USC Annenberg School. “The Big West is undergoing a period of positive change and tremendous growth, and I’m excited to help push the conference forward with its broadcast and content creation initiatives.”
 
Kirkpatrick’s first official day at The Big West will be Monday, August 16.
 
About the Big West
The Big West Conference was formed in 1969 and is a member of NCAA Division I with 11 academically and athletically prominent institutions consisting of Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai‘i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.

The conference sponsors 18 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field and women’s water polo. For more information, visit BigWest.org or follow the Big West Conference on Twitter @BigWestSports and @BigWestHoops.