Biography
Hanson was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on June 16, 1947. He attended Assumption high school, and he earned a bachelor's degree in education from St. Benedict's College (now Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas, in 1968; two years later, in 1970, Hanson earned his master's degree in education from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where he also was an Assistant Baseball Coach. After this, he began his professional career at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he was the head coach in both soccer and baseball, and he was named the National Soccer Coach of the Year in 1974 by the NAIA. [3]
Hanson spent four summers as an associate scout for two major league baseball teams: the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres. He also spent five seasons as a senior executive for three North American Soccer League teams from 1976-1981: the Rochester Lancers, [4] the Washington Diplomats, [5] and the Atlanta Chiefs. [6] [7]
From 1980 to 1984, Hanson worked as a Turner Broadcasting Vice President. [8] In 1982, Hanson, Robert Wussler, and Russ Potts successfully outbid CBS to air what was dubbed "The Game of the Decade" on Turner Network Television—a college basketball game pitting The University of Virginia against the Georgetown Hoyas in a matchup which featured the two biggest stars in college basketball at the time, Ralph Sampson and Patrick Ewing. This was an important step for sports broadcasting on cable television, as high-profile sporting event broadcasts had always been featured on major networks prior to this. it was also the first use of the name "Turner Network Television" (or TNT). Hanson was also responsible for other programming properties, acquisitions and ongoing management accomplishments for TBS Sports, namely: Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, inaugural NCAA College Football prime time package, entrees into the NBA, NASCAR, NASL, SEC Football, College Basketball, PGA Tour, Various Sports Documentaries and New Studio Programming. [9] [10] [11]
In an article in The Sporting News in May 2017, there is an article outlining the genesis of Ted Turner's idea to have Hanson and Robert Wussler create a four-hour baseball documentary on what typically happens during any baseball season. This Emmy and Ace Award-winning documentary followed the 1982 season of the Turner-owned Atlanta Braves. It was entitled “It’s A Long Way to October” and was narrated by legendary baseball announcer Red Barber, produced by Glenn Diamond and Hanson was the Executive Producer. [12]
From 1984 to 1991, Hanson was the PGA Tour Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting and President of PGA Tour Productions. He also negotiated contracts for major network television golf coverage and oversaw the Public Relations Department. [13]
Hanson was hired in 1991 as President of the Raycom Sports events division, which included the Blockbuster Bowl college football event and the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions, later titled by Harris Teeter, Food Lion and Hardee's, which was a high-profile college basketball tournament. [14]
He operated Hanson Enterprises, a Sports Management firm from 1994-2020. He represented sports leagues, new start-up sports companies, and consulted for ESPN for a prime time professional golf event.
Terry and John Feinstein, long time friend and renowned sports author, commissioned a screen play of his best seller: Caddy For Life: The Bruce Edwards Story. Hanson engaged The William Morris Agency, in conjunction with Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's production company, LivePlanet. The work was eventually produced in documentary format for the Golf Channel. [15]
Since 2007, Hanson was a regular ensemble member on the regionally syndicated radio morning show, The John Boy and Billy Big Show. [16] He has also done television color analyst work in college basketball and professional soccer.
Retired
In January 2020, he and his wife, Patti, retired to Eureka, Missouri, a suburb of their native St Louis, to be near their children and grandchildren.
In December 2021, Hanson had a cornea transplant at Washington University to repair a long-standing eye issue called Keratoconus.
In May 2022 he was inducted into the St Louis Sports Hall of Fame in the category of Sports Administration. [18]
On September, 2022 Dan Caesar, sports media writer for the St Louis Post-Dispatch, quoted Hanson on the national telecast of St Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols hitting his 700th career Home Run. He was very critical of Major League Baseball airing that game exclusively on an Apple TV Friday Night Game of the Week. Hanson cited his disappointment that the exclusive telecast could not be seen by numerous Cardinals viewers who were not able to access the fee-based Apple TV app. [19]
In January of 2024, he returned to do a weekly feature on The John Boy & Billy Big Show, a morning radio program that is syndicated into 44 markets, in 16 states by Premiere radio Networks. The 5 minute report, he last did in 2019, is called Sports Briefs, and airs weekly. The program first started in 1986 and has been a southern favorite for many years. [20]
In 2024, The EduRank organization, listed 33 Notable Alumni from Southeast Missouri State University, sorted by their Wiki pages popularity. Hanson was ranked as number 15. He coached baseball, when earning his Masters Degree there, in 1970. [21]
