Terry Gannon | |
|---|---|
 Gannon at the2025 World Figure Skating Championships | |
| Born | Terrance Patrick Gannon (1963-11-01)November 1, 1963 (age 62) Joliet, Illinois, U.S. |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | North Carolina State University |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Employer | NBC Sports |
| Spouse | Lisa Gannon |
| Children | 2 |
Terrance Patrick Gannon (born November 1, 1963) is an Americansportscaster who is a play-by-play broadcaster forNBC Sports,Golf Channel andPeacock, calling primarily forgolf,gymnastics andfigure skating, as well asbasketball for theBig Ten Conference andNational Basketball Association.
Gannon played basketball forNorth Carolina State University, and under coachJim Valvano, he was a member of the1983Wolfpack "Cardiac Pack"national championship-winning team. He was recognized as anAcademic All-American twice, was NC State's all-time leadingfree throw shooter in 1983, and was ranked the second all-time Wolfpack player in career free throw accuracy.
Gannon began his early broadcasting career announcing for a variety of sports, mostly oncable outlets. In 1991, he began working forABC; in the early 1990s, he started announcing for figure skating. In 2010, he began working for theGolf Channel; by 2016, he had become the lead play-by-play announcer for figure skating at NBC. In 2018, he began calling gymnastics and was a commentator for the sport during the2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Gannon was born and raised inJoliet, Illinois, to Jim Gannon and Mary Gann. Upon his father's recommendation, he took four years of tap dancing lessons from his mother, who had taught tap dancing for 30 years, because he thought it would be good for his son's coordination. Gannon began his basketball career atJoliet Catholic High School, where his father was a coach.[1]
Gannon attendedNorth Carolina State University (NC State) inRaleigh,North Carolina, where he playedcollege basketball as part of theWolfpack team under coachJim Valvano, where he was recognized as anAcademic All-American twice and NC State's all-time leadingfree throw shooter. In 1983, he was a part of the "Cardiac Pack", which upset theHouston Cougars for theNCAA title.[2][3] He hit 85.4 percent of his free throw attempts and was ranked the second all-time Wolfpack player in career free throw accuracy.[1]
After graduating with a degree in history from NC State in 1985, he worked as a graduate assistant for Valvano for a year, intending to become abasketball coach.[1][3] He briefly played professional basketball in Europe, but on the advice of Valvano, left the sport for broadcasting.[3][2] In 2018, on the 35th anniversary of their win, NC State inducted the entire1983 men's basketball team into its Athletic Hall of Fame.[4][5]
Gannon has announced a wide variety of sporting events and has been called one of the "most versatile"[3] announcers in TV sports and "the man who knows every game".[1] Fellow commentatorsTara Lipinski,Johnny Weir, andNastia Liukin credit Gannon with their development as analysts.[6] Lipinski stated that Gannon's depth of knowledge, experience, and "the way he brings natural, genuine conversation into the booth" made his style "compelling".[6] Gannon's focus as a commentator for the Olympics was exposing general fans to sports they viewed rarely, only every four years.[6]
In 1986, Gannon began broadcasting on Valvano's TV and radio shows for regionally televised basketball games.[1] He served as a regular college basketball game analyst forRaycom Sports,Prime Network, Jefferson-Pilot Sports,Sports South, andHome Team Sports between 1987 and 1994, and as a play-by-play announcer for Prime Sports and Jefferson-Pilot's coverage of college baseball.[7] Gannon credits Valvano for his career, noting that the coach had told his players that basketball "shouldn't be your entire life, it shouldn't consume you".[1] From 1990 to 1994, Gannon was the announcer for theCharlotte Knights, aMinor League Baseball team inCharlotte.[3]
In 1991, Gannon started working forABC as a commentator for college basketball. He also was an announcer on the weekly showWide World of Sports.[1] While working atWide World of Sports, Gannon said that his biggest broadcasting influences wereHarry Caray andAl Michaels.[8]
Starting in the early 1990s, after being asked to travel toTokyo, Japan, to cover a professionalfigure skating event,[1][9] Gannon served as host for ABC'sfigure skating coverage, teaming with former Olympic skatersPeggy Fleming andDick Button at most major competitions.[8] As sports reporter Barry Jacobs stated, figure skating was "a sport he had not followed",[1] but like every new sport, he approached it with "scholarly zeal" and "as if it was a history project".[1] He would learn a sport's rules, key figures from its past and present, and for the purpose of sounding authentic to its fans, its "idiosyncratic language".[1] Gannon told reporter Barry Wilner that he would also talk about what he knew about the new sport and avoid unfamiliar topics until he learned more about it.[9] Eventually, although he was most closely associated with figure skating and golf, with what Jacobs called "his warm, authoritative voice and understated manner",[1] Gannon has announced for a wide variety of sporting events.
In 1993, Gannon began broadcasting forESPN and ABC (which wasmerged with ESPN), covering play-by-play coverage forcollege basketball andfootball; by 2001, he had covered three post-season bowl games. He was an announcer on ABC's coverage of thePGA Tour and theChampions Tour and announced theTour de France, which Jacobs called Gannon's "perhaps his greatest challenge",[1] three times. In 2001, ABC reported that Gannon hosted theBelmont Stakes once and three times called the play-by-play at theLittle League World Series. By the time he left ABC, Gannon had also covered theNBA,WNBA,horse racing,tennis,beach volleyball,skiing,supercross motorcycle racing,mountain biking, andgolf. He announced for the2002 FIFA World Cup, the2003 FIFA Women's World Cup,WTA professional tennis, the2004 Indianapolis 500,2006 Belmont Stakes, theSpecial Olympics, theGoodwill Games, and hosted ABC's college football studio show. For six years, he hosted theTournament of Roses Parade.[8][10]
In 2018, Gannon told sports reporter Helen Ross that out of all the sports he has called, he found golf the hardest, even though he played it and had been a fan of the sport since childhood. He played golf in clubs near his home in Los Angeles, but most of his golf was played on the road, with former golf pros and fellow broadcasters like his Golf Channel broadcast partner, six-time major championNick Faldo, as well as withCraig Perks,Billy Kratzert,Matt Gogel,Jim Gallagher Jr., andCurt Byrum.[5]
In 2010, Gannon joined the broadcast team of theGolf Channel, which is owned by theNBC Sports Group. NBC Sports also called him one of its "most versatile voices".[11] He served as play-by-play announcer on thePGA Tour, theLPGA Tour, Olympic figure skating andgymnastics, and college basketball. He has covered five Olympic Games, including serving as studio host and play-by-play commentator for figure skating,short track,rowing,canoeing, andgolf.[11] He won aSports Emmy for his involvement in NBC's coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics.[12]
In 2014, Gannon was enlisted as a play-by-play commentator for figure skating as the needed backup announcers for their daytime broadcasts of figure skating, and so at first, he was slotted to work with1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski and three-timeU.S. national champion Johnny Weir separately. The trio recognized their chemistry and requested that they call the competition together; the result was the 10 best weekday daytime ratings in NBC's history.[13] They were promoted to the network's lead figure skating announcing team the following season.[14] Lipinski and Weir reported that Gannon "upped his game" with his wardrobe after working with them. Lipinski called Gannon "dapper" and "stylish"; she and Weir reported that she and Weir had helped Gannon with accessories such ascuff links andHermès pocket squares.[13] In 2017, Gannon signed a five-year contract extension with NBC and the Golf Channel.[1]
In 2018, Gannon, Lipinski, and Weir announcedfigure skating at the Winter Olympics inPyeongChang,South Korea.[15] Gannon also calledice dancing with former ice dancerTanith White.[16] Also in 2018, Gannon began commentating for gymnastics, with 1984 gold medalistTim Daggett and 2008 all-around champion Nastia Liukin. Gannon said that he considered calling gymnastics at a high level "an honor".[6] He was the play-by-play commentator for the2024 Paris Olympics, along withSamantha Peszek andTim Daggett.[17]
Gannon, Lipinski, and Weir also hosted the closing ceremonies of four Olympic games:Pyeongchang (2018),Tokyo (2020),Beijing (2022), andParis (2024).[18]
Coinciding with the return of theNBA to NBC's broadcasting schedule, the network added Gannon to their broadcast team prior to the2025–26 season, joining bothMike Tirico andNoah Eagle as play-by-play announcers. Since 2023, Gannon has calledBig Ten basketball games forPeacock.[12][19]
| Year | Title | Role | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–1994 | College Basketball on ABC/ESPN | Game analyst | ABC/ESPN |
| 1995–2009 | Play-by-play | ||
| 1992–2010 | Figure Skating on ABC/ESPN | Play-by-play (lead) | |
| 1995–1998 | Wide World of Sports | Play-by-play | |
| 1995–2009 | College Football on ABC | ||
| 1999–2013 | Golf on ESPN (PGA Tour on ABC) | Tower announcer/host | |
| 2004–2012 | WNBA on ESPN | Play-by-play (lead) | |
| 2010–present | Figure Skating on NBC | NBC | |
| 2010–2013 | NBA on ESPN | Play-by-play | ABC/ESPN |
| 2010–present | Golf Channel | Tower announcer/host | Golf Channel |
| 2013–present | Golf on NBC | Substitute host | NBC |
| 2023–present | Gymnastics on NBC | Play-by-play (lead) | |
| College Basketball on NBC (Big Ten Basketball on Peacock) | Play-by-play | ||
| 2025–present | NBA on NBC | #2 play-by-play |
| Preceded by | Lead Play-by-Play, Little League World Series 1999 | Succeeded by |