Sean McManus began his broadcasting career as a boy of 12 years as a runner for ABC Sports, where his father, legendary announcer Jim McKay worked. Graduating from Duke in 1977 he immediately began work as an ABC Sports production assistant, working on such events as the Indy 500, US Open Golf, Monday Night Football, College Football, and Wide World of Sports.

In 1979, McManus joined NBC Sports as Director of Programming Development and by the age of 27 was named Vice President of Program Development at NBC Sports, becoming the youngest vice president in the history at NBC. Gaining experience in rights negotiations, Sean was involved in negotiations for the Olympic Games, NFL, Wimbledon, Major League Baseball, the Rose Bowl, horse racing and auto racing.

In1987 McManus joined Mark McCormack’s International Management Group, the largest and most powerful sports marketing firm in the world. He helped run Trans World International, the television division of IMG, which at the time was the largest division in the firm. TWI represented the television rights to such events as the Olympics, NFL, NBA, Wimbledon, British Open, US Open Tennis and many more properties. They also represented talent such as John Madden, Jim Nantz, Bob Costas, Greg Gumbel, James Brown and many more.

Named president of CBS Sports in 1996, he continued to be active in negotiating broadcast rights deals for major American sports, including the Masters, the NCAA Basketball Championship, PGA Tour, PGA Championship and SEC Football. McManus also directly oversaw all aspects of the division including production and served as the Executive Producer of the NFL On CBS.

Against all odds McManus was successful in bringing the NFL back to CBS in 1998.In the largest television deal in history, the entire CBS Network was rejuvenated and ascended to the #1 network in prime time. Added to the CBS Sports talent roster was Phil Simms, Greg Gumbel, James Brown, Marcus Allen, Ian Eagle, Bill Cowher, Dan Dierdorf and eventually Tony Romo.

McManus was named president of CBS News in October 2005, and continued to serve as president of CBS Sports as well, becoming only the second person to hold these network roles at the same time, the other being the legendary Roone Arledge. Overseeing all aspects of CBS News, including 60 Minutes, Sunday Morning, the Evening News, Face the Nation, and the Early Show, the division was the most honored in the industry and remained a cornerstone for CBS.

In 2011, McManus was promoted to Chairman of CBS Sports and went on to lead the negotiations for the expanded rights to the NFL, NCAA basketball Championship, the Masters, PGA Championship, PGA Tour, Big Ten, and more. Overseeing all of programming, he green lit the first and only women’s produced and hosted sports talk show, "We Need To Talk."

McManus has been the Chairman of the March of Dimes Sports Luncheon for the past 25 years, annually raising more than $1million to make sure moms and babies remain healthy and alive.

The winner of 21 Emmy Awards and the Cynopsis Sports Media Legacy Award, McManus was also inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. He was yearly named one of the most powerful persons in the sports industry, and indeed has been regularly a spokesperson for the entire sports world.

Sean announced his retirement from CBS effective April 2024.

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