Logan Swaim, the highly regarded producer of NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” is jumping to DAZN to serve as executive producer of the streaming sports service’s new nightly MLB show for the 2019 season.
Swaim is viewed by insiders as one of the most talented young producers in sports TV.
As showrunner, he turned “GMF” into one of the hottest morning shows on TV. The show’s young cast of Nate Burleson, Kay Adams, Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt have become stars in their own right, with CBS Sports recruiting Burleson to star on “The NFL Today” pregame show with James Brown, Bill Cowher, Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason.
Swaim would be the latest in a string of big-name hires for DAZN (pronounced Da-Zone).
John Skipper, former president of ESPN, joined as executive chairman last year. DAZN also recruited up-and-coming CAA media agent Josh Santry to serve as vice president of talent.
“I am thrilled for this opportunity to build a unique show with some of the most talented people in the industry,” Swaim said. “We will show every big play, every day, live on DAZN. We are determined to establish it a must-have destination for today’s baseball fan.
“I am very thankful to Michael Davies of Embassy Row, Mark Quenzel of NFL Network and all of the talented people at ‘Good Morning Football’ for the opportunity to be a part of something special. I was lucky to work with four of the most talented hosts and I am forever grateful to Kyle Brandt, Peter Schrager, Nate Burleson and Kay Adams.”
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Swaim, who also has written series for ESPN, CBS, NBC and NFL Network, will oversee production for the daily baseball show on DAZN from the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J. The show will debut on Opening Day of the 2019 season.
“It takes a special kind of person to create and produce a daily sports show in 2019,” said Joseph Markowski, DAZN executive vice president for North America. “Logan has demonstrated his ability to creatively program daily content during the most competitive time-block in television. We are looking forward to teaming up with him on the upcoming nightly MLB show.”
Skipper negotiated a three-year deal with MLB for rights to the weeknight show launching this season. In interviews, Skipper described the show's whip-around format as similar to the NFL's RedZone Channel.
“We are thrilled to partner with MLB on this important new initiative, which will be a great complement to and promotion of the outstanding lineup of live games from its national and regional broadcasters,” Skipper said in a statement when the show was announced. “We will target young multicultural fans, many of whom do not have pay television. The fast-paced nature of a whip-around show will appeal to this audience and bring in new fans.
“Ultimately, our goal with MLB is to grow both the overall audience for baseball and the burgeoning DAZN business.”
SportsBusiness Daily first reported the Swaim news Thursday.
Disclaimer: Sporting News is one of the digital media brands operated by DAZN Group.