Paul Dempsey (presenter)

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Paul Dempsey
Born
Paul Andrew Francis Dempsey

(1960-03-16) 16 March 1960 (age 64)
Marylebone, London, England
OccupationTelevision presenter
Years active1985–present

Paul Andrew Francis Dempsey (born 16 March 1960) is a British TV and radio sports presenter and commentator now chiefly employed by TNT Sports where he covers football and boxing coverage, as well as TV host and commentary on Indonesian Djarum's multiplatform Mola TV. After 18 years working for Sky Sports and 7 with the Dublin-based channels of Setanta Sports, Dempsey was signed by BT Sport prior to their UK launch.[1]

Early life

Dempsey was born in

Oxford. He was one of the first ever recruits to UCD's Sports Scholarship system. He then played football for University College Dublin A.F.C. (UCD) as a defender during the 1982–83 League of Ireland season. He won the Collingwood Cup during his time at Belfield Park
.

Radio career

After a summer job opportunity at the

Capital Radio's sports coverage with Jonathan Pearce
.

Television career

At Christmas 1988 Dempsey was invited to audition for the launch of

Pay Per View Channels. His main analysts were former world champions Barry McGuigan, Jim Watt, Glenn McCrory and former commonwealth champion Nicky Piper.[3]

For a period Sky enjoyed a near monopoly on the sport’s biggest names including

TWI
who relayed live Premier League, FA Cup, European and International football to a Worldwide audience.

He was a mainstay of their football coverage and commentated on the final day of the 1994–95 season as

Blackburn Rovers clinched the title at Anfield against Liverpool and again in 1997-98 as Arsenal beat Everton at Highbury
on the last day to become champions.

For 10 successive years Dempsey hosted the prestigious PFA Player of the Year Awards show from the Grosvenor House in London.[4]

In 2002, he was a commentator for SBS covering the FIFA World Cup.[5]

Although linked with rival networks on several occasions Dempsey remained with Sky until 2006 when he was offered the chance to return to Dublin to help launch Setanta Sports’ dedicated Irish sports channel. In 2007, he was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Academy Award for his hosting of the Rugby World Cup, an event which significantly enhanced the channel's reputation.[6]

In 2009, Setanta's

Europa League and International football.[7]

The

pacific region. He had previously acted as both studio anchor and commentator stretching back to 1994, along with Martin Tyler. But in 2010 as Special Broadcasting Service
developed their style and format, Dempsey was invited to host coverage from their Sydney HQ.

In September 2011, Dempsey became a presenter and commentator on subscription boxing channel BoxNation.[9]

In 2012, Dempsey presented every game at Euro 2012 on Setanta, alongside pundits

Setanta Australia
.

For the

IOC's broadcasting arm, OBS, in their 10-channel, 3-language, 18-hour-per-day Live service, assisting former chief BBC sports producer John Shrewsbury in an editorial and production supervisor's role. Additionally he served as co-lead commentator, with John Helm
, on the Men's and Women's Olympic Football tournaments.

During 2012-13 he was enlisted by ITV to help with their football coverage. For pay network Primetime he hosted the ill-fated ring return of Ricky Hatton in Manchester[10] and, for ESPN, Wladimir Klitschko's world title defence, alongside co-host David Haye.[11]

In 2013-14 Dempsey quickly became an established host on

IOC
TV arm to work on the Sochi Olympics in Russia.

At the start of 2015-16 he presented

Tottenham Hotspur in the first ever Ultra High Definition broadcast of its kind.[13]

Throughout the season he went on to commentate on

BT Sport, culminating in the FA Cup Final at Wembley and the Europa League Final from Basel. He was also hired by UEFA for commentary duty on the Champions League Final in Milan.[14]

As presenter of Boxing Tonight he fronted all

Euro 2016 and the Olympic Games
in Rio.

In 2016/17 Dempsey continued as a commentator and presenter/reporter on BT Sport covering Champions League, Europa League and all Europe's top competitions with special emphasis on the Bundesliga. At the end of the season he was hired by FIFA affiliate HBS to provide commentary on the Confederations Cup in Russia, including the opening ceremony in St Petersburg. He was also confirmed as part of the commentary team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In boxing, BT Sport began live broadcasting of the sport in April 2017 and Dempsey took up the role of anchor on Fight Night Live as he had during his long career on Sky Sports. He also served several other broadcasters including Channel 5.

In 2018 Dempsey continued to work mainly for BT Sport covering UEFA Champions League and Europa League plus the top leagues in England, Germany and Italy. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup he commentated from Russia on the worldwide broadcast.

In boxing he presented and commentated on big fights all over the world, including the Alvarez v Golovkin Middleweight Title fight in Las Vegas which was BT Sport's first ever pay per view event and, in December, the biggest fight of 2018, the WBC Heavyweight Title fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury in Los Angeles.

In addition to his broadcasting commitments at the Brazil World Cup in 2014 he co-headed the operations of Union Filmes, the Brazil-based production company in which he is a partner. Main clients included SBS, ITV and BBC. He is also a founding shareholder in sports design business, ShadowmanSports.

Personal life

Dempsey married wife Jill in 1996 and has two daughters born in 2000 and 2002.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Sports Gazette - the Friday Interview: Paul Dempsey".
  2. ^ "Three into one does go at this city college | Leicester Mercury". Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Paul Dempsey Interview".
  4. ^ White, Jim (27 April 2006). "Hooray for Henry and boo to asking silly questions". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  5. ProQuest 872596941
    .
  6. ^ "Winners 2008 | IFTA | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards".
  7. ^ "Sportsfile - Setanta Sports announce details of Premiership Coverage Photos | page 1". Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  8. ProQuest 276329016
    .
  9. ^ "Richard Keys Appointed as BoxNation Presenter". Frankwarren.tv. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Ricky Hatton's audacious gamble fails but he should feel no shame | L…". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013.
  11. ^ "WBA, IBF & WBO Heavyweight Boxing Championship". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Setanta Ireland to broadcast Premier League highlights". The Irish Times.
  13. ^ Liew, Jonathan (10 August 2014). "Over-hyped summer faff of pre-season friendlies are where football discovers its better nature".
  14. ^ "Sports Gazette - the Friday Interview: Paul Dempsey". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Boxing Tonight".
  16. ^ "Baker Sports Management - Clients - Paul Dempsey". Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

External links

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