Biography
David Neal is an award-winning American television producer and media executive whose career spans more than four decades at the highest level of live sports and event broadcasting. Renowned for his leadership and creativity on some of the world’s most complex and culturally significant broadcasts, Neal has served as Executive Producer on nine Olympic Games, five FIFA World Cups, multiple NBA Finals, World Series, and Super Bowl programming. Neal produced two of the most watched telecasts in U.S. television history: the 1998 NBA Finals (24.8 million views) and the 2015 FIFA World Cup (28.5 million views).
Neal spent more than three decades at NBC, where he rose to senior leadership roles including Executive Producer and Executive Vice President of NBC Olympics. During his tenure, he oversaw Olympic Opening Ceremonies, primetime coverage, and major championship events, earning acclaim for broadcasts that blended technical innovation with cinematic storytelling.
Following his time at NBC, Neal founded David Neal Productions, producing more than 250 hours of television for CBS Sports. The company’s first major client was the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), for whom Neal has served as Executive Producer since the beginning of 2011. Under his leadership, PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series broadcasts were re-imagined with enhanced camera placement, immersive sound design, and a renewed emphasis on storytelling that elevated the sport’s television presentation (SportsBusiness Journal, 2010).
Neal joined FOX Sports in 2012, where he served as Executive Producer of FIFA World Cup coverage, leading the network’s global soccer portfolio across broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. Under his leadership, FOX delivered record-breaking coverage of the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups, the 2018 and 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cups, and subsequent international tournaments, helping redefine how soccer is presented to American audiences.
Over the course of his career, Neal has earned 35 Emmy Awards, he produced the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, which also received the Primetime Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for Outstanding Special Class Program (Television Academy, 2009), recognizing the broadcast’s cultural significance and creative achievement.
