Kenny Mayne | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Mayne inMcCovey Cove in 2007 | |
| Born | Kenneth Wheelock Mayne 1959 or 1960 (age 64–65) Kent, Washington, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| Occupation | Sports broadcaster |
| Years active | 1982–2021 |
| Employer | ESPN (1994–2021) |
Kenneth Wheelock Mayne[1] (born 1959 or 1960)[2] is an American former sports media personality who is best known for his work onESPN from 1994 to 2021. He appeared as host ofKenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports on ESPN.com, and he appeared as a weekly contributor toSunday NFL Countdown with his weekly "Mayne Event" segment. During his time at ESPN, he became known for his dry sense of humor.[3][4][5]
Mayne was born inKent, Washington.[6] He attended community college and was an honorable mention as junior college All-American quarterback in 1978 atWenatchee Valley College inWenatchee, Washington. He graduated from theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1982 with a degree in broadcasting.While atUNLV, Mayne was a backup quarterback for two years and he later tried out for theSeattle Seahawks, but was not offered a contract.[7]
Mayne began his television career with a brief stint as a reporter forKLVX-TV inLas Vegas. Mayne then spent seven years (1982–89) atKSTW-TV inSeattle, Washington, working as a weekend sports anchor and weekday news reporter.[8]
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ESPN hired Mayne in 1994 after Mayne had sent ESPN a note inquiring whether the network would hire him. The note simply asked to check a box, including one option that read, "We'll hire you when there's an ESPN5."[9]
Mayne started at ESPN in 1994 as aSportSmash anchor onESPN2, then became the anchor of the weekend edition ofRPM 2Night from its start on Labor Day weekend 1995 until August 1997.
On his final edition ofRPM 2Night, Kenny played a phone call he received fromDavid Letterman, then a co-owner of Rahal Racing, that he could not quit doingRPM 2Night. After that, Mayne moved over to the main network. He served, for a time, as co-anchor of the 11PMSportsCenter withDan Patrick afterKeith Olbermann left ESPN.
He leftSportsCenter two years later, moving to an assortment of late night ESPN shows which were usually re-aired throughout the next morning. Included in his repertoire was thegame show2 Minute Drill. Mayne is now most often seen as the host forABC and ESPN's horse racing events. He provided offbeat feature stories onSunday NFL Countdown in a weekly segment calledThe Mayne Event.[citation needed]
On January 17, 2007,ESPN signed Mayne to a one-year contract to do features and cover horse racing, as well as return toSportsCenter for about 50 shows in 2007.[10][11]
Beginning October 2, 2008, Mayne starred in ESPN's first scripted web series,Mayne Street, playing a fictionalized version of himself.[12]
In 2011, ESPN launchedKenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports, a series of videos on ESPN.com highlighting Mayne's trips around the world. In the first season the show visited six countries (England, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, and New Zealand) with Mayne participating in events like theKing's Cup Elephant Polo tournament in Thailand, the world's longest par-3 hole (Extreme 19) in South Africa, and aroad bowling match in Ireland.
A television version ofKenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports, featuring highlights from the internet series, aired on ESPN/ABC in December 2011. Season 2 ofWider World of Sports featured visits to the Netherlands for canal jumping, Nicaragua for volcano boarding, Italy for thePalio di Siena horse race,Bosnia and Herzegovina for bridge diving atStari Most, Switzerland forhornussen, and Scotland for theHighland Games.[citation needed]
Both seasons ofKenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports have been honored in the Online Film and Video category of the Webby Awards, which annually recognize the best websites, videos, apps, and social media on the internet.[13]
Mayne returned toSportsCenter on October 15, 2013, after a five-year absence. A new contract with ESPN signed earlier that month set Mayne to anchor 70 episodes ofSportsCenter and host 10 special features per year through 2015. At the time Mayne described the new deal was "sort of a part-time job" and implied dissatisfaction with some of the caveats. The deal effectively ended Mayne's role on horse-racing and terminated hisWider World of Sports series instead focusing his role primarily onSportsCenter.
He commented on the restructuring of his contract by saying "for some readers it looked like I had the keys to the place, and they took the keys away".[14]
On May 10, 2021, Mayne announced that he would be departing from ESPN after 27 years as an anchor and correspondent for the network,[15] declining a 60% pay cut.[16]
From July–September 2021, Mayne along with another former ESPN anchor,Cari Champion, hosted streaming coverage of the2020 Summer Olympics onPeacock called Tokyo Tonight. Mayne, in an interview with journalist Julie Stewart-Binks, said the series will "[catch] the viewers up on what they may have not seen."[17]
Mayne was also in the 1998 filmBASEketball, which featured the creators ofSouth Park,Trey Parker andMatt Stone. He was alongsideDan Patrick and appeared onSportsCenter to cover the latestBASEketball playoff competition.[18] In 1999, he played himself on an episode ofThe Drew Carey Show entitled "Tracy Bowl".[19]
Before agreeing to the deal withESPN, Mayne had talks withComedy Central about doing a sports-themedThe Daily Show-style program and was a finalist to be the host of the syndicated version ofDeal or No Deal. He confirmed both discussions.[20]
In 2008, Mayne penned his first book,An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport, a collection of offbeat musings on sports and pop culture. In 2010, he appeared in the animated filmKung Fu Magoo as himself.[21]
Mayne, 56, was a good fit to speak at the luncheon.
...Mayne, the longtime SportsCenter anchor who was born in Kent, Washington...
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