Lunch with a Leader featuring David Neal from FOX Sports

One of the most prolific and accomplished sports producers of his generation, the recipient of 35 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award, David Neal serves as Executive Producer of FIFA WORLD CUP and Vice President, Production for FOX Sports.

David Neal joined FOX Sports in 2012 and is responsible for all aspects of the FIFA World Cup on FOX along with related high-profile events involving the US National team. Under Neal’s guidance, FOX Sports’ critically acclaimed coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup shattered all previous viewership records with over 25 million viewers for the U.S. victory over Japan in the Final, making it the most-watched soccer game in U.S. television history.

Following the successful FIFA Women’s World Cup, Neal has focused on the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, while also leading FOX Sports coverage of the 2016 Copa America Centenario, the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Continuing his career legacy of building exceptional on-air talent rosters, Neal has added numerous standout broadcasters including Fernando Fiore, Aly Wagner, Stu Holden, Ian Wright, Lothar Matthäus, Guus Hiddink, Hernan Crespo, Didier Dragba, Kelly Smith and Ari Hingst to the FOX Sports line-up.

Before joining FOX in 2012, Neal spent more than 30 years at NBC Sports where he produced nine Olympics, four NBA Finals, two World Series and a Super Bowl pregame show. Neal produced many memorable NBC Sports live telecasts, including three of the four most-watched NBA Finals games in U.S. television history: Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals -- Michael Jordan’s dramatic final game with the Chicago Bulls (#1, 35.9 million viewers), Game 5 of the 1998 Finals (#3, 30.6 million) and Game 5 of the 1997 Finals (#4, 30.3 million viewers).

Neal also produced several award-winning documentaries at NBC, including an Emmy-winning four-part series on Muhammad Ali; “The Great Communicators of Sports”, an examination of sports broadcasting that was honored with a National Headliner Award for excellence in journalism; and a Super Bowl retrospective on Vince Lombardi told entirely in the legendary coach’s own words.

At Univision from 2011 to 2012, Neal led the successful launch of the Univision Deportes Network cable channel. He served as Executive Producer for Univision’s coverage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and CONMEBOL Copa America in 2011. He also created the popular “Fútbol Central” which continues to be one of the network’s most watched studio shows.

At NBC, Neal held dual roles as Executive Vice President of NBC Olympics, responsible for the production, programming and technical engineering departments of NBC’s Olympic division, also serving as Executive Producer of NBC Sports, giving him additional responsibility for all NBC Sports productions. In addition to 32 Sports Emmys and 2 Primetime Emmys, Neal’s innovative and creative vision was recognized with a Peabody Award for NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing.

Immediately following his 30-year storied career with NBC Sports, Neal formed David Neal Productions in 2010, producing more than 250 hours of television for varied clients including Univision, NBC, CBS and Velocity.

Neal graduated from the University of Southern California in 1978 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. His father — the late Roy Neal — was a much-honored and respected NBC News correspondent, producer and executive from 1948-‘86. David Neal was raised in Woodland Hills, California and resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Jen.

RSVP