From Thoroughbred tennis standout to ESPN producer

James Davidson ’01 has spent more than two decades — his entire career so far — working for ESPN, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Especially when it comes to tennis.

He is the producer for Wimbledon, the Australia Open, and the U.S. Open — all the Grand Slam tennis competitions that ESPN covers — as well as many other sporting events, including the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) Championship and the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament. 

“It’s been a full gamut of sports, but tennis is still my main passion,” Davidson says.

As a live-event producer, he is in charge of the show in real time, providing content and valuable insight for the sportscasters’ commentary. 

“We build the game’s storyline, whether it’s determining what tape elements will be used to highlight a certain player or what graphics are needed to help announcers analyze specific plays,” Davidson explains. “Everyone on the ESPN team is expecting guidance on how all the game elements are going to be expressed to the viewer.”

Tennis immersion 

Davidson grew up in a household of tennis players. His parents played tennis, and he and his siblings played on the high school team. Davidson played other sports, too, but when he started to think about college, he turned to tennis as his main game. 

“Tennis was what I was best at, something I had a passion for, and I really wanted a shot at playing in college,” he says. 

Paul Arciero, a Skidmore tennis coach at the time and now a professor in the College’s Health and Human Physiological Sciences Department, heavily recruited Davidson. In 2012, Davidson was inducted into the Skidmore College Athletics Hall of Fame.

“James was the epitome of a leader and led by example in every way,” Arciero says. “Not only was he an All-American and a fantastic tennis player, but he was an even better person, teammate, and friend. He remains an exemplar representative of the men’s tennis team, and especially Skidmore College in general.”

Davidson has always appreciated Arciero’s mentorship. 

“Paul was a tremendous coach, not only for helping us on the court, but also being there off the court if we ever needed anything,” says Davidson, who connected with Arciero and past teammates over Zoom near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We still call him coach.”

Jumpstarting an amazing career

Davidson’s two biggest passions growing up were sports and television, an ideal combination for any potential ESPN employee. “Everyone knew I loved sports and ESPN, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life back then. I was a business major and still trying to figure it out,” he says. 

During a junior-year Skidmore tennis tournament trip in Connecticut, Arciero’s mother invited the team to have dinner at her home. Before Davidson knew it, Arciero handed him the phone. On the line was Arciero’s brother-in-law Tim Corrigan, then an ESPN coordinating producer and now its vice president of production for basketball.

Shortly before he graduated, Davidson interviewed for a production assistant position with the cable sports giant, and Corrigan would become his first boss. 

“I had no clue about production, or what a piece of tape or B-roll was. But if you know sports, you can learn television production, and that’s what ESPN did with me,” says Davidson, whose wife Kathryn also works for the network in the Creative Content Unit.

“It’s funny how things worked out in taking a chance to visit a small college I knew nothing about,” Davidson adds. “In a big way, Skidmore jumpstarted my career.”