Mike Tirico | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Tirico in 2024 | |
| Born | Michael Todd Tirico (1966-12-13)December 13, 1966 (age 58) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Employer(s) | Meredith Corporation (1987–1991) Capital Cities/ABC Inc. (1991–1996) The Walt Disney Company (1996–2016) Comcast (2016–present) |
| Television | WTVH (1987–1991) ESPN/ABC (1991–2016) NBC Sports (2016–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Michael Todd Tirico (/tɪˈriːkoʊ/; born December 13, 1966)[1] is an Americansportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play announcer forNBC Sunday Night Football, having replacedAl Michaels in 2022, and became the lead play-by-play announcer for NBC'sNBA coverage in 2025. Tirico is also the primary primetime host for theOlympics on NBC[2][3] and the host ofTriple Crown races on NBC.[4]
From 1997 to 2006, Tirico served as lead announcer for thePGA Tour on ABC. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play announcer onESPN'sMonday Night Football.[5] Tirico has called a multitude of sports in his career, including theNBA,NHL, college football and basketball, golf, tennis, andWorld Cup soccer.
Tirico left ESPN after 25 years with the network when his contract expired in mid-2016, and was subsequently hired byNBC Sports. Tirico debuted during NBC's coverage of the2016 Open Championship and has since served as the network's lead host for golf coverage.[6]
With NBC Sports, Tirico has hosted NBC's coverage of theIndianapolis 500,[7] was the lead play-by-play forNotre Dame Football on NBC, hostedFootball Night in America, and hosted NBC's coverage of theStanley Cup Finals.[8][9]
Tirico was born in New York City to anItalian American mother and anAfrican American father.[10] He grew up in the borough ofQueens, graduating fromBayside High School.[1] In 1988, he graduated from theS. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Arts and Sciences as a dually enrolled student atSyracuse University.[11][12] At Syracuse, he was the first recipient of theRobert Costas scholarship.[13]
Tirico joined ESPN in1991 as aSportsCenter anchor,[14] after four years as sports director atCBS affiliateWTVH inSyracuse, New York, during his undergraduate years atSyracuse University.[15] Tirico was noted for his versatile nature and the variety of assignments he handled forSportsCenter. Tirico was the first host seen onESPNews.[16]
Tirico also handled the play-by-play for ESPN's Thursday night college football package (1997 to 2005),[17] college basketball coverage (1997 to 2002),[18] NBA coverage (2002 to 2016), and golf coverage for ESPN/ABC (1997 to 2015). He also hosted studio coverage of various ESPN and ABC covered events, including a stint on ESPN'sMonday Night Countdown (previously known asNFL Prime Monday) from 1993 to 2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcast NBA games onESPN/ABC and play-by-play for theNBA Finals onESPN Radio. He anchored the2009 U.S. Open (tennis) and co-anchored the2010 FIFA World Cup, the2014 FIFA World Cup, andUEFA Euro 2016 (his last assignment at ESPN/ABC).
Tirico was one of the subjects covered in Mike Freeman's 2000 bookESPN: An Uncensored History, where accounts of misconduct involving him sexually harassing and stalking at least six women led to an employment suspension for three months in 1992.[19][20]
On May 9, 2016, after a leak the prior month, it was officially announced that Mike Tirico would joinNBC Sports effective July 1, 2016.[21] Tirico signed off for the last time on ESPN on June 30, 2016, during the conclusion of that day's coverage of theUEFA Euro 2016 soccer tournament.[22] Tirico's first on-air appearance on an NBC property came during the2016 Open Championship on NBC'sGolf Channel, calling play-by-play for the first three hours of first and second round coverage. Tirico moved to the studio host role in the afternoons on both Thursday and Friday, and he hosted all on the coverage on NBC proper over the weekend.[6]
Tirico served as a studio host and contributor for NBC's broadcasts of the2016 Summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro in August.[21]Richard Deitsch ofSports Illustrated suggested that Tirico could potentially succeedBob Costas as the primetime host of NBC's Olympics coverage. NBC Sports chairmanMark Lazarus explained following the2014 Winter Olympics that the division had begun to "think about what life after Bob might be, whether post-Rio, post-Pyeongchang, post-Tokyo, whenever he does not want to do it anymore." Deitsch also felt that Tirico's experience in radio could allow him to contribute to theNBC Sports Radio network.[23]
Sports Business Journal initially reported that Tirico would serve as NBC's lead play-by-play announcer forThursday Night Football (which was expanding to NBC during the upcoming season), and was likely to be a future successor toAl Michaels.[23] The NFL later stated that its contract with NBC required that the network use its lead play-by-play commentator for all primetime broadcasts nationally over-the-air.[24] In the meantime, Tirico called the two preseason games allocated to NBC, hostedFootball Night in America on-site[25][26] and was placed on play-by-play for NBC's first threeNotre Dame college football games to fill in forDan Hicks, due to Hicks' conflicts with his lead play-by-play role onNBC's golf coverage, including the2016 Ryder Cup. Tirico would join Hicks to host Sunday coverage of the event.[27][28]
Consequently, he only called to two late-season games in theThursday Night Football package produced forNFL Network, held on a Saturday and Christmas Sunday respectively, withDoug Flutie andTony Dungy.[29][30] In November 2016, NBC announced that Tirico would perform play-by-play with Cris Collinsworth on threeSunday Night Football games (including the Thanksgiving primetime game) and oneThursday Night Football game, filling in for Al Michaels. Michaels had requested time off due to NBC's increased NFL workload.[29][31]
On February 9, 2017,Bob Costas announced that he would be retiring as the primetime host of NBC's coverage of the Olympics, and that Tirico would replace him beginning at the2018 Winter Olympics. Tirico also replaced Costas as studio host for NBC's NFL coverage andFootball Night in America.[32][33][34][35]
On May 31, 2017, it was announced that Mike Tirico would permanently replace Al Michaels as the play-by-play commentator for all of NBC'sThursday Night Football games.[36] Starting that year, he took over the role ofTom Hammond inTriple Crown coverage[37] and became full-time as the play-by-play announcer for Notre Dame football.[3]
Tirico skippedSuper Bowl LII in order to focus on preparing for the 2018 Winter Olympics, which began the following Friday, but contributed to NBC's pregame coverage from Pyeongchang.[38] In the 2018 NFL season, after losingThursday Night Football to Fox, Tirico was assigned to NBC's Thanksgiving game, joined by hisFootball Night in America colleagues Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison.[39][40] He also called twoNFL Network Special games in December produced byFox Sports.[41]
On February 20, 2019, Tirico called his firstNHL game on NBCSN'sWednesday Night Hockey, between theChicago Blackhawks andDetroit Red Wings, joined byEddie Olczyk on color commentator andBrian Boucher as the "Inside-the-Glass" reporter. Although he has served as studio host for selected NHL broadcasts, this marked his first broadcast as commentator.[42] His performance was well received by viewers and sportswriters.[43] Starting in January of that year, he hosted both the2019 NHL Winter Classic and2020 NHL Winter Classic.[44][45][46]
In a similar move to 2016, Tirico filled in for Al Michaels on a fewSunday Night Football games during the 2020 season. Due to the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, NBC decided to give Michaels 3–5 "bye weeks", in order to minimize travel.[47][48] One of those weeks was due to Michaels failing to pass NBC's COVID-19 protocols. He also worked one of NBC's twoWild Card games, albeit remotely, also due to COVID-19 protocols.[49] In addition, Tirico had planned to work NBC's Thanksgiving game, but it was postponed to Sunday. Tirico then called the originally planned Sunday night game withTony Dungy andKathryn Tappen. Michaels had planned to work the postponed game, but the former game was postponed again to Tuesday, so NBC kept Tirico on duty for the planned Sunday night game, but also placed him back on duty for the game that was later postponed to Wednesday.
Tirico hosted both the2022 Winter Olympics and theSuper Bowl LVI, traveling to Los Angeles part-way through the Games to anchor Olympics coverage from outsideSoFi Stadium on the weekend of the Super Bowl.[50][51][52]
Coinciding with NBC's return to broadcastingNBA games, Tirico was named NBC's lead play-by-play announcer for its NBA coverage starting in 2025.[53] To prepare for his return to the NBA, NBC assigned him to call two games on NBC'sregional networks. Tirico called aPhiladelphia 76ers–Portland Trail Blazers game on March 3 onNBC Sports Philadelphia (filling in forKate Scott), and called aBoston Celtics–Trail Blazers game on March 5 onNBC Sports Boston (filling in for Drew Carter).[54]
In addition to his sports duties, Tirico guest hostedNBC News’Today program the week of April 14, 2025, filling in for regular hostCraig Melvin, who was vacationing with his family.[55]
Tirico has been paired in the college football booth withTim Brant,[56]Terry Bowden,[57]Mike Gottfried,[58]Kirk Herbstreit,Lee Corso, andDavid Norrie. From 2017 until he assumed Al Michaels’Sunday Night Football post, Tirico served as play-by-play forNotre Dame Football on NBC, partnering withDoug Flutie and laterTony Dungy. In 2021,Drew Brees joined NBC Sports as Tirico's partner for Notre Dame games and onFootball Night in America with Tirico and Dungy.
During his career with ESPN, Tirico has called most of NBA games withHubie Brown.[53] The pair began calling games in the2006–07 season, whenMark Jackson replaced Brown as lead analyst on ABC. Tirico and Brown form ABC's #2 broadcast team, while Brown would remain paired withMike Breen on ESPN's lead broadcast team.[59] His other partners includedJon Barry,Doris Burke,P. J. Carlesimo,Sean Elliott,Jeff Van Gundy,Mark Jackson,Steve "Snapper" Jones,George Karl,Tim Legler,Chris Mullin,Jack Ramsay,Jalen Rose,Tom Tolbert, andBill Walton.[53] Tirico called his last NBA game on May 8, 2016, during thesecond round of the2016 NBA playoffs.[54]
His color commentators for golf coverage wereCurtis Strange,[60]Ian Baker-Finch,[61]Nick Faldo,[62] andPaul Azinger.[63] He has worked withLen Elmore on college basketball coverage. Tirico worked withJon Gruden onMonday Night Football and also theOutback Bowl (2011,2012,2013 and2014) andOrange Bowl (2011 and2012).
On April 21 and 22, 2007, he appeared as a guest host, filling in forMichael Wilbon, alongsideTony Kornheiser on ESPN'sPardon the Interruption.[64]
Tirico currently teams withCris Collinsworth,Melissa Stark, andTerry McAulay forSunday Night Football onNBC.
Tirico hosted his first show fromWAER radio in Syracuse, the station where he started his sports broadcasting career, on the campus ofSyracuse University.[65] Fellow Orange alumBob Costas was his first guest. On September 20, 2007, Tirico began hosting the short-livedThe Mike Tirico Show onESPN Radio with co-hostScott Van Pelt (later renamedTirico &Van Pelt in May 2008), replacingDan Patrick in its previous timeslot. On May 19, 2009, Tirico announced he would be leaving the show to focus more on his television duties; the show would carry on asThe Scott Van Pelt Show, withRyen Russillo becoming the new co-host.
In 2017, Tirico won theMarty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.[13]
Tirico and his wife Debbie, a Michigan native, have two children. The Tiricos have lived inAnn Arbor, Michigan, since 1999.[12]
Tirico's parents, Donald and Maria, were separated when he was about 4, and he says he has since lost contact with his father's side of the family. His mother's side of the family are all of Italian ancestry. He at one point said: "The only contact I had growing up was with my mom's side of the family. And they are all as white as the refrigerator I'm standing in front of right now."[66] In regard to a genealogical test to see if he has a black ancestor, he said: "Yeah. I'd like to find out the truth at some point, so I can answer questions for my kids", but made it clear he did not feel any urgency.[67] In September 2022, Tirico acknowledged that his father is African American.[10]
In May 2025 Tirico prematurely leftNBC Sports' coverage of the2025 Kentucky Derby after suffering a seriousallergic food reaction, withAhmed Fareed filling in to host the rest of the broadcast. In a segment onNBC'sToday a few days later, Tirico explained that he has had anut allergy for his whole life. He encouraged viewers to "ask, inquire, be curious, and be courteous to those who have nut allergies or other food allergies."[68][69]
AGE: 39 (Born Dec. 13, 1966 in New York.)
| Preceded by | Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer 2006–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American television prime time anchor,Summer Olympic Games 2016–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | American television prime time anchor,Winter Olympic Games 2018–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Thursday Night Football play-by-play 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sunday Night Football play-by-play 2022–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | LeadNFL on NBC play-by-play announcer 2022–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
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