How ESPN events director Stephanie Grant navigates the changing sports landscape

All signs pointed to a sports-free life for ESPN’s Stephanie Grant.

She didn’t grow up playing sports. She always wanted to, but a circulation problem kept her from it. So, instead, she was in the color guard at her small high school in Taylorsville. And by the time she graduated from UNC Charlotte in 1988, Grant had become an accountant.

But four years into her career, a company reached out to Grant, asking if she was interested in an accounting position at another place. She had to agree to an interview before the company was revealed to her. She agreed. It was with ESPN.

“It’s definitely been a long journey,” Grant said, later adding, “Going to such a large company does kind of push you a little bit. So, I have learned a lot about myself in terms of just being able to navigate through.”

Almost 28 years later, Grant is the director of events and basketball operations based in ESPN’s Ballantyne facility, overseeing basketball tournaments, creating content and handling different sports. Grant is being spotlighted on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, held on the first Wednesday in February to celebrate the accomplishments of women in sports.

At ESPN, Grant has a hand in what often goes unseen, identifying programming needs, supporting corporate initiatives and enhancing partnerships. She develops budgets, timelines and secures venues. Grant also handles logistics ranging from team travel to game management. She’s part of the reason both teams and fans can enjoy an event.

Although she’s still not the most avid sports fan, Grant works to keep up with the industry, identifying changes in college sports that could affect business, and learning how to adjust strategy.

“There’s been quite a bit that’s happening that we need to continually adapt our business to meet the needs of our stakeholders, our teams that play in our events, our sponsors, our fans,” said events manager Grayson Moore, who works closely with Grant. “And Stephanie is just great at taking in information and then applying that to us from a professional level to help our business.”

But it’s not something she’s always been able to do.

Learning to adapt

Grant is admittedly Type A. It’s almost a requirement of the position. She’s detailed and organized. She likes things a certain way. But as sports have changed, Grant has had to change, too.

In 2020, she had to learn to be uncomfortable. During COVID-19, Grant had to rethink her role. Games were being canceled. There wasn’t an audience. She had to abandon some of her routines of the previous 20 years.

“It forced me to kind of get out of that comfort zone,” Grant said. “Because it’s really easy once you start working, and it’s with anything, it’s easy to kind of rinse and repeat. So, it forced me to kind of think about what we do in a little bit of a different way.”

With no audience, how does ESPN please fans? What about players? Everything had to be adjusted.

Eventually, the challenge didn’t only help her career-wise, but personally as well. Sure, being Type A helped her, but she learned that it shouldn’t constrict her.

Now, as the sports landscape continues to change with NIL and conference realignment, Grant feels prepared for it. She’s able to look at past events and decide how to elevate them. Grant can look at ESPN and her work in a different way.

“She does a great job of keeping up with trends and the news in college athletics that we’re not necessarily dictating, and we have no control over,” Moore said. “We have to quickly adjust to stay relevant … she’s very adaptable.”

‘It’s OK to be uncomfortable’

Grant just finished her busiest months, which are November and December at the beginning of basketball season. It’s a lot of tournament coordination and preparation for the season ahead.

In November, she helped plan the Dick Vitale Invitational, a season opener between Texas and Duke at the Spectrum Center, called by Vitale, a longtime ESPN broadcaster. He’s endured four types of cancers over the past four years, and used the event to raise awareness for pediatric cancer. Grant had to figure out the best way to honor that.

The following month she organized the Jimmy V Classic, a doubleheader featuring Florida, BYU, UConn and Clemson at Madison Square Garden.

That’s all in between the day-to-day, where Grant interacts with different sports teams, while collaborating with ESPN’s different departments to keep the company current. And even when it’s challenging and there are problems to navigate, it’s not a problem for Grant anymore.

“It’s OK to be uncomfortable, it’s OK to experience change,” Grant said, later adding, “I’m very detail-oriented, and that forced me to kind of get out of that a little bit. It’s OK that things have changed, and you have to come up with a different way to do something.”

ESPN changed her life 28 years ago and pushed her to adapt, and it continues to do so.