Freddy Rolón Named ESPN Deportes VP/General Manager

Freddy Rolón has been named VP and general manager of ESPN Deportes. Rolón, who joined ESPN in 2004, has been VP of ESPN Deportes programming and business initiatives since 2011. He will report to Russell Wolff, executive VP and managing director of ESPN International.

In the role, Rolón will work closely with, among others, Gerardo Casanova, VP and general manager, ESPN Latin America North (Mexico and Central America).

“Freddy brings an expert blend of market intelligence, content know-how, brand knowledge and leadership to his new role,” said Wolff. “The collaboration between Freddy and Gerardo will also help us find creative and innovative ways to best serve U.S. Hispanic fans on all of ESPN’s platforms.”

Rolón was a summer intern at ESPN International in 2003. After completing his MBA at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, ESPN hired him as senior manager, marketing for ESPN Deportes. He was then promoted to senior director, marketing and integration of ESPN Radio (2005-2007), where he oversaw all the marketing efforts for ESPN Radio and was instrumental in the launch of ESPN Deportes Radio.

“ESPN is perfectly poised to serve the growing U.S. Hispanic audience in both Spanish and English,” Rolón said.  “We have tremendous expertise within the ESPN Deportes team, in addition to company-wide support for our efforts. I’m excited to work with this talented team of professionals to develop ESPN’s English, Spanish and bilingual strategies, and to identify new opportunities to propel our business forward."

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.