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10 Worcester Business Journal | December 9, 2024 | wbjournal.com since we met in 2002." Charlie Jacobs, CEO of the Bruins and Buffalo-based Delaware North hospi- tality company, said McGrail has been pivotal in NESN's longevity. "He ran one of the most successful regional networks in the country," Jacobs said. "So he's certainly a local Worcester guy done great, as they say." Hitchhiking on I-290 Raised by two working parents in a triple decker off Lincoln Street near Green Hill Park with three other siblings, McGrail attended the then-Harlow Street School. Aer his parents moved the family to a single-family home in the Burn- coat neighborhood – a move McGrail described as feeling like they had won the lottery – he attended Burncoat Junior High, before a friendly wager led him to the private Saint John's High School in Shrewsbury. "My godmother bet me $25 I couldn't pass the entrance exam," said McGrail. "I always say that was the hardest $25 I ever baseball color analyst Jerry Remy and the now-retired hockey announcer Jack Edwards, have become household names in New England. But the network's Worcester-born former president and CEO Sean McGrail has quietly been key to the network's success, according to two of the region's most powerful sports executives, making his retirement this October the latest hurdle for the network to overcome. "He's always been innovative, and while others were sort of follow- ing different paths, he realized that the path forward was to create the best content to make a channel that was 24/7 that took advantage of the of the power of both the Bruins and the Red Sox," Tom Werner, chairman of both the Red Sox and the English Premier League's Liverpool Football Club, said of McGrail. "He's been an innovator ever Sports Charlie Jacobs, CEO of the Boston Bruins BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor I t's easy for New England's younger sports fans to take a lot for grant- ed. As other major sports markets are lucky to see one championship parade per decade, they've become a common occurrence here; this century has seen the region's most prominent sports teams take home six Super Bowl trophies, four World Series titles, two NBA championships, and a NHL Stanley Cup victory. Another thing that younger fans of the region's teams, particularly supporters of the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox, might take for granted is the existence of New England Sports Network, the Watertown-based regional sports broad- caster that has been bringing Red Sox and Bruins regular season games into viewers' homes since 1984. While sports fans in other national markets have seen their own regional sports networks scramble to adapt to new technology and viewers cut- ting the proverbial cable, the broad- casting partnership between Boston's professional base- ball and hockey teams has thrived, with the network reaching millions of New England residents and adapting to the rise of streaming. NESN broadcasters, including the late Sports broadcasting's quiet icon Worcester native Sean McGrail made NESN the envy of regional sports networks, and he now uses that power to help his hometown Tom Werner, chair of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club Sean McGrail Former CEO and president Senior advisor to the board NESN, in Watertown Founded: 1984 Age: 64 Hometown: Worcester Residence: Hopkinton Education: Bachelor's degree from Northeastern University in Boston, MBA from Boston University PHOTOS | COURTESY WORCESTER RED SOX Worcester-born Sean McGrail retired from NESN in October after nearly 40 years with the regional sports network.