New York, March 26, 2014 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced nominees for the 35th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards and Sports Illustrated earned a franchise-first two nominations. See here for the full release.

The Academy nominated a pair of SI Digital video productions in the category of Outstanding New Approaches – Sports Programming, which recognizes new approaches to original story-telling across multiple platforms. The Sports Illustrated nominated pieces include: Season II of Underdogs, the critically-acclaimed documentary series which chronicles inspiring stories from the high school football gridiron; a A Boy Helps A Town Heal which recounts the story of 14-yr. old Jack Wellman of Newtown, CT. Wellman, the 2013 SI Kids SportsKid of the Year, was forced to the sidelines with a back injury and while recuperating began coaching his hometown elementary school wrestling team. Then tragedy struck: One of his wrestlers was killed in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. In the wake of the devastating events, Jack courageously stepped forward to be a leader to team and uplift an entire community in the process. Both projects were Executive Produced by Ian Orefice, EP, Time Inc. News & Sports and Colin Orcutt, Coordinating Producer, Time Inc. Sports Group.

These nominations are the latest recognition for the company which in 2013 embarked on a robust initiative to expand its video storytelling across all platforms. SI is included with fellow nominees including cable networks and world-renown production companies. Recently, Sports Illustrated’s daily live talk show for SI.com: SI Now powered by Ford, was named by Cynopsis Media a finalist for an annual Sports Media Award in the Best Talk Show category. This momentum comes on the heels of last month’s announcement that Time Inc. joined with partners MLBAM, the NHL and Silver Chalice to introduce 120 Sports, a new live-streaming digital video sports network set for launch in the Spring.

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Scott Novak, 
Time Inc. Sports Group, 
Sports Illustrated – SI Swimsuit – Golf – SIKids, 
212-522-2687, 917-699-4142 (cell)