NASCAR has hired John Dahl as its new SVP Content, bolstering the sanctioning body’s efforts to further connect with current and new fans across the globe over a range of content platforms.
Dahl joins NASCAR after a career at ESPN, where he ascended from a coordinating producer to become VP and EP for Special Projects, Films and Original Content.
Starting his new role on May 1, Dahl will drive the creative vision and oversee the teams responsible for all content generated by NASCAR Studios and NASCAR Digital Media across multiple business areas. Those include production, programming, and operations.
His scope will cover the full spectrum of long and short-form storytelling around all aspects of motorsport, ranging from features, documentaries, and branded content to social media, NASCAR.com, and in-app executions for NASCAR’s primary and ancillary platforms.
Dahl will report directly to Tim Clark, NASCAR SVP and Chief Digital Officer, and split his time between New York City and NASCAR’s new productions facility in Concord, N.C.
“NASCAR has an incredible opportunity to continue fueling its positive momentum with powerful storytelling that brings fans closer to everything that makes this sport so compelling, and there’s no one more proven or better equipped to deliver on that potential than John Dahl,” said Clark. “We’re thrilled to welcome John aboard and can’t wait for fans to experience everything he and his extremely talented NASCAR teammates have to offer.”
“Over the course of my career, I’ve been fortunate to experience firsthand NASCAR’s rich reservoir of characters and storylines, from the people behind the wheel all the way to the tracks and fans themselves,” said Dahl. “I’m excited to help build on the foundation of extraordinary content being created in and around NASCAR to give fans more reasons to engage, whether that comes in a TikTok video, a documentary project or anything in between.”
A winner of 11 Emmys and three Peabody Awards, Dahl was one of the original executive producers on ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series. He was also a lead executive producer on the most-viewed single documentary project in ESPN’s history – the Emmy-winning 10-part/10-hour series The Last Dance, which chronicled NASCAR 23XI Racing team owner Michael Jordan’s final championship season with the Chicago Bulls.
Beyond these efforts, Dahl spearheaded a multitude of other notable film and documentary projects at ESPN, including capsule collections for the NBA’s 75th anniversary, the 150th anniversary of College Football, the SEC Storied franchise, and ESPN’s Fifty/50 initiative commemorating the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Dahl served as a reporter at the Coca-Cola 600 for WBT Radio in Charlotte early in his career, before going on to produce and oversee several documentary projects around the sport. That included an extended feature on Richard Petty for CNN’s The Sporting Life with Jim Huber, as well as work at ESPN that included the Ultimate NASCAR anthology, the 30 for 30 documentary Tim Richmond: To the Limit, and the film Wendell Scott: A Race Story. He was also a consultant on the first season of Netflix’s 2024 docuseries, NASCAR: Full Speed.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) assisted NASCAR in the hiring search, following a recently formed alliance between the two entities for representation in the content and media projects space.
The post NASCAR Hires Ex-ESPN Exec John Dahl As Its New SVP Content appeared first on Deadline.
