Stephen Espinoza (born January 1, 1970) is an American sports and corporate executive. He is the president of

Showtime Sports Showtime is an American premium television network owned by Paramount Media Networks, and is the flagship property of the namesake parent company, Showtime Networks, a part of Paramount Media Networks. Showtime's programming primarily includes t ...

Early life

Espinoza is a native of

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

and graduated from Coronado High School in 1988. He is of Mexican descent.

Education

Following his graduation from high school, Espinoza attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, obtaining a

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

. in communication in 1992. He then went on to earn a J.D. from the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

in 1996.

Career

While still at UCLA, Espinoza began working for sports agent

Leigh Steinberg Leigh William Steinberg (born March 27, 1949) is an American sports agent, philanthropist, and author. During his 41-year career, Steinberg has represented over 300 professional athletes in football, baseball, basketball, boxing, and Olympic sp ...

. However, he switched career tracks and accepted a position at Greenberg Glusker in 1996 before eventually moving on to Ziffren Brittenham LLP in 2002. Both firms specialize in entertainment law. His clients included

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and

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...

, as well as former NFL star

Michael Strahan Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Nation ...

and MMA fighter

Gina Carano Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress and former mixed martial artist. She competed in EliteXC and Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled a 7–1 record. Her popularity led to her being called the "face of women ...

Introduction into boxing

Through his work at Ziffren Brittenham LLP, Espinoza came to represent professional boxers

Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...

and

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

Golden Boy Promotions

Espinoza formerly served as lead counsel for De La Hoya's

Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Histo ...

Showtime Sports

On November 14, 2011, Espinoza was announced as the new head of

, replacing Ken Hershman. Since his move to Showtime, Espinoza has made boxing a focus of the network. In 2012, he signed

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...

to a six-fight, multi-year deal. Espinoza was also reportedly "instrumental" in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. Under Espinoza's supervision, the Showtime-Mayweather deal accounted for the three highest-grossing pay-per-view events in television history — Mayweather-Canelo in September 2013, Mayweather-Pacquiao in May 2015, and Mayweather-McGregor in August 2017. In January 2018, Espinoza was promoted from Executive Vice President to President of Showtime Sports.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinoza, Stephen 1970 births Living people American lawyers American television executives American boxing promoters American boxing managers Stanford University alumni UCLA School of Law alumni American people of Mexican descent Sportspeople from El Paso, Texas