Sean Bratches was named to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing in October 2005.  He oversees all advertising sales, research, consumer marketing and special events for ESPN and ABC Sports and is responsible for affiliate distribution, licensing, marketing and local advertising for the domestic cable and satellite networks of The Walt Disney Company.           

Bratches was named President, Disney and ESPN Networks Affiliate Sales and Marketing in June 2004 and had been executive vice president, ESPN affiliate sales and marketing since July 2001. 

            The array of Walt Disney networks includes:  ABC Family, Disney Channel, SOAPnet, Toon Disney, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD.  He also is responsible for the domestic distribution of related HDTV, broadband, video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand, interactive television, pay-per-view, Spanish-language, and sports syndication products.  In addition, he oversees the ESPN ABC Sports Customer Marketing and Sales department. 

Bratches also oversees ESPN’s research department, which serves as a vital link between the company’s strategic planning of new products and services and constantly shifting marketplace dynamics, as well as the company’s special event marketing department. He also oversees marketing efforts for ESPN and ABC Sports.

 Bratches serves on the ESPN Board of Directors.  Based in ESPN offices in both New York and Bristol, Connecticut, he reports directly to George Bodenheimer, Co-Chairman, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company, and President ESPN and ABC Sports, and, for affiliate sales efforts, reports jointly to Bodenheimer and Anne Sweeney, Co-Chairman, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company, and President, Disney-ABC Television.

Under Bratches’ leadership, ESPN has become the industry leader in creating affiliate value by strategically leveraging its core brand, while creatively integrating a number of high-profile brand extensions; among them, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN Outdoors/B.A.S.S., ESPN owned events and the ESPN Zone, ESPN’s sports-themed dining and entertainment complexes.

Through his leadership ESPN’s newer, emerging networks have achieved record-setting growth:

·        ESPN2 became the fastest cable network in history to reach 80 million homes -- and is now available in over 89 million homes.

·        ESPN Classic now reaches more than 57 million homes, compared to its 6.5 million homes when purchased by ESPN in 1997.

·        ESPNEWS topped the 45 million home mark in 2005.

·        ESPN HD secured over 85% of multichannel video households under contract within its first year of launch.

Bratches joined ESPN in October 1988 as an account executive and within a year was promoted to senior account executive.  In December 1992, he was named director, northeast region, before being promoted to vice president, eastern division in January 1995.  He was promoted to senior vice president, affiliate sales and marketing in December 1998.

            Prior to joining ESPN, Bratches was a regional sales manager for Storer Television Sales, Inc., where he was responsible for selling national spot advertising for the company’s seven owned and operated television stations across the country.       

He is a member of the CTAM Board of Directors and sits on its Executive Committee.  He served as co-chair for the 2001 CTAM Broadband Conference, and the organization’s pre-Western Show panel in 2000.  Bratches also serves on the WICT Strategic Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors for the T. Howard Foundation.

Bratches received a 2001 Vanguard Award for Young Leadership, the cable industry’s most prestigious award, presented by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

Bratches was recognized in 2004 (#15) by CableFAX Magazine in its annual CableFAX 100, that profiles “cable’s 100 heavy hitters” and has been named each year since 1999.

            Bratches was graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1984 with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration.

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