Bartlesville grad finds his destiny at ESPN

Bartlesville High School graduate Scott Pomeroy has traversed this nation from coast-to-coast, witnessing the rugged beauty of towering wooded mountains, golden blankets of harvest rimming the heartland, beaches with rippling rivulets of waters sparkling in the sun like a swarm of silver butterflies.

There is another kind of roadmap — one that sets the course to a dream fulfilled. Pomeroy is familiar with that route as well.

In the 29 years since he claimed his high school diploma, Pomeroy has motored along the fast track to rich opportunity — 23 of them working for media sports giant ESPN.

His most recent job titles have been Senior Manager, ESPN Events and Associate Director ESPN Events.

Perhaps Pomeroy’s success in the sports media realm shouldn’t be too surprising — it might be a simple case of genes.

His father Bob Pomeroy — who also is a Bartlesville product — has devoted himself to the same path, professionally and personally. During his time with Phillips 66, Bob served as a point man for the oil company and its sponsorships for Big 8/Big 12 sporting events. Bob also held the position of Bartlesville Sports Commission (BSC) Board Chairman for more than a dozen years and has been involved with the BSC since its founding in 2007.

When Scott was younger, he often accompanied Bob to Big 8/Big 12 sporting events, particularly the conference basketball championship. Back then, many referred to him as “Bob Pomeroy’s son.”

Circumstances have taken an 180-degree turn.

“In the past 8-to-10 years, when I go to an event Scotty is involved with I am often asked, ‘are you Scott Pomeroy’s dad?’” Bob said. “They proceed to tell me what a super young man Scotty is and how they enjoy working with him. I enjoy those times very much.”

Bob said he’s proud of Scott’s ability to oversee any type of event.

“Whether it be baseball, basketball, bowl games or golf tournaments, he knows what needs to be done and does it,” Bob continued. “He sometimes invites me to one of his events. … My chest gets kind of puffed up when I watch him in action.”

Action is the, well, action word.

Scott is a composite — the organizational skills of a NASA flight director, the persistence of relentless snowfall, the intrepidness of a U.S. Marine, the creative impulses of a wizard and the immutable intent of an oyster to transform gritty challenges into pearls.

Take, for instance, the 2022 Veteran's Day Armed Forces Classic basketball game played along the coast of California, on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.

“It was probably the most challenging thing I’ve done in my career with ESPN,” Pomeroy said. “It brings back so many memories.”

For one thing, the annual event had been suspended in 2020 and 2021, due to COVID.

ESPN did not plan on staging it in 2022, as well, but the military pushed for a game, Pomeroy recalled.

“Another group came to us and asked if we could help,” he said. “They had agreed with the Navy to have the game on a carrier. We agreed to take over and run with it. It was kind of like hit the ground running.”

ESPN had a little more than nine months to “bring it all together,” Pomeroy said. The tasks included site visits, coordination with the Navy and the USS Abraham leadership, locating vendors, arranging for lighting and a basketball court for the deck, finding and setting up bleachers, contracting with a crane company and related things.

“There was a lot of communication,” Pomeroy said. “I had to make weekly phone calls with the Navy and with the vendors just to stay in line.”

Toward the end of October, “we had somewhere in the neighborhood of two-and-a-half weeks to build everything. … It was challenging due to all the moving pieces.”

To add another layer to the task, seating was expanded to 3,500 spectators to allow more military personnel and their guests to enjoy the event.

The contest itself turned out to be a winner — No. 2 Gonzaga edged unranked Michigan State, 64-63.

Following the game, another week was required to tear it all down.

For Pomeroy it was all worth it as a way of thanking the military for its service.

Pomeroy also oversaw the production of last 2023 Armed Forces Bowl (sponsored by Lockheed Martin), one of 14 college postseason games under the direction of ESPN Events. The Air Force Academy beat James Madison, 31-21, in the December showdown.

Overall, it’s been a grueling but satisfying journey — congested with a grueling grind, incalculable hours, complex decisions and an unfathomable well of hope — for Pomeroy.

Meanwhile, a large part of his heart remains rooted in Bartlesville.

“I don’t know where i’d be or what I am without the opportunity of being in Bartlesville and growing up in a small town,” Pomeroy said. “Bartlesville is a great place to raise a family. I think that’s important. … I have a very strong appreciation of how Bartlesville shaped my outlook on life, how to treat other people and be a good person.”

Pomeroy enjoys coming home to spend time with his dad.

“What I appreciate most about my dad is, I like how he puts so many others before himself and how great a friend he is to so many other people,” Pomeroy said. "He’s always wanting to help other people."

Bob — who said he's overwhelmingly proud of both his sons — has been formally recognized as Bartlesville's top citizen and has been tirelessly involved in serving the community in numerous ways.

Bob also played a major role in nurturing Scott’s passion in sports and helping him make contacts that blessed him professionally.

“Scott is my youngest son and has been employed by ESPN for the past 23 years,” Pomeroy noted. “He always had a keen interest in sports, but regretfully he inherited his dad’s athletic genes and was never an outstanding athlete.”

Even so, Scott displayed from an early age his zeal for athletics. Starting at the age of five, he attended pro games in Kansas City when his family lived there. He also participated in all youth sports, Bob said.

“I tried my hand at basketball a little while, but as a kid I had back issues,” he said.

However, he still poured all his heart in rooting for the team, especially the player that still looms largest in his memory, Raymond Roberts.

Pomeroy still found a way to be involved in Bruin sports — as a member of the golf team. He recalls fondly his teenage memories of playing at Hillcrest Country Club and practicing with the high school team at Adams Golf Course.

“I remember supporting my friends who played American Legion baseball in Bartlesville and I was probably very active in K-Life … (which was) a very stable part of my life routine.

Pomeroy also enjoys esoteric memories of the miles and miles he walked on the Pathfinder Trail or went off the path to explore the wooded area around it.

The early 1990s — which Scott experienced as a teenager — were a time of magic in Bartlesville High sports, especially boys basketball. Between 1987 and 1993, Bartlesville went to the state finals five times, winning the Gold Ball in 1989, 1991 and 1992.

Enthusiasm swelled the then-Bruin Fieldhouse to beyond its capacity. Spectators often had to arrive during the girls junior varsity game in order to assure themselves of a seat — on the old hard wooden bleachers — for the varsity games.

"You couldn’t go to the concession stand without walking on the court,” Scott recalled. “The students were really tight. It was an amazing atmosphere.”

Following his prep graduation in 1995, Pomeroy attended Texas Christian University — where he also began the safari that would expedite him to fertile deltas of unchartered sports territory.

ESPN owned the marketing rights to all athletics at TCU and Pomeroy went to work for them on an interim basis. Bob had prepared Scott by the "work assignments" he gave him at the college tournaments.

“He proved to be very good at working with people and getting things done in a proper and timely manner,” Bob said. “He also came into contact (with) and got to know many of the people from ESPN.”

Scott had been a faithful ESPN viewer during his youth and the guy who updated other guys about the latest sports news.

After he graduated, ESPN brought him on board — thanks to Pete Derzis and Tony Renaud, to who Pomeroy said he is indebted — full time in 2000.

He started in sales, but thankfully in 2003 he was moved to operations.

“My personality was better suited to organizational work rather than selling,” he said. “That was kind of linchpin and how my career took off, switching from sales to operations."

Pomeroy's role with ESPN has come full circle. Last year he oversaw sponsorship strategy for more than 30 events, ticking, re-capping the year, planning sponsorship strategy for 2024 including any bowl games that need new title sponsors and basketball events.

"I think I've had more opportunities thrown my way ... than anybody else in our group has," he added. "I'm grateful for the opportunities provided and the people that I have worked with."

In 2022, Pomeroy attended a major reception to honor those with 20 to 50 years of service for ESPN, Disney and ABC.

"I had an opportunity to enjoy that," he said. "It was pretty neat."

It's not been an easy path for Pomeroy, but a rewarding one — and the roadmap to a dream has more miles ahead.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville grad Scott Pomeroy links destiny with ESPN