Chris Turner was named senior director, SEC programming in January of 2009. Turner joined ESPN in 1995 after the company acquired Creative Sports, for which he served as programming coordinator. In 1997, ESPN combined its OCC division and Creative Sports to form ESPN Regional Television (ERT), the nation’s largest syndicator of college sports programming.
During his tenure with ERT, Turner’s syndication responsibilities grew to include Big East, Big 12, and C-USA basketball, as well as Mountain West football. He also co-managed ERT’s Events Division where he was instrumental in growing the portfolio to more than 20 owned and operated events, including six post-season college football bowl games, six multi-team men’s college basketball events, and the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway.
As senior director, SEC programming, Turner is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of ESPN’s historic 15-year rights agreement with the conference.
Turner earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College in 1985 and a Master of Science degree majoring in Sports Administration from the University of Kansas in 1993.