Tony Petitti was named President and Chief Executive Officer, MLB Network on April 24, 2008 and oversees all day-to-day operations of the network. Petitti will oversee all aspects of the launch of the new network, which will broadcast baseball programming 24 hours a day and is projected to launch into approximately 50 million cable and satellite homes, exceeding any other cable television launch in history by approximately 20 million homes.
Petitti joined the MLB Network after serving as the Executive V.P. and Executive Producer for CBS Sports, where he oversaw all daily operations, including production, personnel and editorial content. In January 2008, Petitti assumed responsibility for day-to-day operations of CSTV and was instrumental in its transformation to the CBS College Sports Network.
Petitti originally joined CBS Sports in February 1997 as Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Programming, in which he played a key role in negotiating contracts for continued coverage of the PGA Tour and the network's re-acquisition of the NFL. In August 1999, Tony became the Vice President and General Manager of WCBS-TV in New York before re-joining CBS Sports in 2002. The six-time Emmy Award Winner was named Executive Producer in July 2002 and later appointed Executive Vice President in December 2005. In 2000, Sports Business Journal honored Petitti as part of its "40 Under 40" top executives in the industry.
Prior to joining CBS Sports, Petitti served as Senior Vice President, Negotiations for NBC Sports and as Vice President, Programming for ABC Sports. With ABC, Tony was responsible for the acquisition of college football regular season and bowl games, college basketball, the Little League World Series and NASCAR events. In addition, he is credited for creating the Bowl Championship Series to determine college football's national champion.
Petitti, who began his professional career in the field of law before joining ABC Sports in 1988, graduated from Haverford College in 1983 with a degree in economics and from Harvard Law School in 1986. In May 2006, Haverford selected Tony as the recipient of the prestigious Lawrence Forman Award, presented to a superior Haverford athlete who has devoted a significant portion of their energy to the betterment of society throughout his or her career.
Petitti currently resides with his family in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
