Moving Ahead In The Action With…Rebecca Preston
As more live sports return to ESPN platforms, meet some of the people working to deliver these events to fans
After the pandemic halted sports in March, Top Rank boxing was the first sport to return to live presentations with ESPN crew on location in Las Vegas in June. Rebecca Preston, Senior Production Manager, Management Operations, played an instrumental role in making that possible.
With 24 Top Rank on ESPN events now under her belt since June, “Becca,” as she is known to her colleagues, is working on perhaps her biggest card yet. She has spent several weeks working with internal teams and Top Rank on the logistics for the lightweight title unification bout between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+).
The card will feature the largest ESPN boxing production staff on location at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino since March.
Ceatta Bogataj, Director of Event Operations at Top Rank, works very closely with Becca and is a big fan of her work.
“Becca is easily one of my favorite people that I get to work with,” Bogataj said. “She is one of those people who connects with everyone she meets and leaves you better than she found you. She has mastered calmness and doesn’t allow her mood to shift on insignificant actions. She is the embodiment of emotional intelligence, and is the kind of leader I take note of, like to learn from, and have an abundance of respect for.”
BIO BLAST
Name: Rebecca Preston
Hometown/Residence: Johnstown, N.Y./Plainville, Conn.
Role/Dept./Years at ESPN: Senior production manager, Management Operations/15 years
The thing I miss the most about the office … “I miss my cubemates, but thankfully, we always connect virtually. I also miss all my pictures and pins at my desk – reminds me of all the places I have been and people I have met.”
My favorite thing I watched on ESPN and ESPN+ since the middle of the March was … “The Last Dance. I watched each episode as they came out and then binged watched all of them on a Sunday! ”
The thing I miss the most about traveling to live events is …”Seeing all the wonderful people I work with.”
During the pandemic, I started doing . . . “I have been cooking more. This week, I made homemade pasta and sauce, cream of chicken soup with spinach and gnocchi, a killer corn chowder and tonight I am making corn beef with cabbage.”
