Know enough that you can curiously ask the right question at that moment and understand what you need to know to put this event that we’re covering in context and perspective.” “So the key is learn how to prepare, bring the best assets to the table. It’s an extraordinary research machine that cranks out page after page of content, and so many of the facts that you read you never get to access,” Tirico said. “Nothing got me better for this next opportunity better than Rio and seeing how NBC’s Olympic unit works. Tirico - like Costas, born in Queens, N.Y., and a Syracuse alum - entered the national stage at ESPN in 1991 and figured into coverage of the Worldwide Leader’s coverage in golf, the NBA, college football, college basketball, the World Cup, Wimbledon and most notably “Monday Night Football.”Īnd while many would have said his resume is best suited to be Costas’ successor, Tirico said he wasn’t fully prepared for his new role until last summer. That’s because Tirico, now the host of “Sunday Night Football,” will be in South Korea preparing for the Olympics a few days later. The eight-time national sportscaster of the year is also stepping away as the main host of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” but will still figure into the network’s coverage of the Triple Crown horse races and will host the Super Bowl next year. If it still feels like this is the time you want to step aside, we understand, and we’re fine with that too.”Ĭostas said he’ll likely have a bigger role with the MLB Network and a few other things now that his calendar has opened up. “And the understanding was, and they were kind enough to leave it up to me, if as Rio approaches or after Rio you want to continue, you go ahead. “So this is something that we began thinking about some five years ago,” Costas said. Instead, Costas said he’s enacting “the Brokaw clause” in his contract, an homage to former NBC lead news anchor Tom Brokaw, as a kind of emeritus role with the network’s sports coverage. He has been NBC’s most high-profile and decorated voice for more than three decades, but he’s not retiring. Tirico and Costas were joined by Jim Bell, president of NBC Olympics production and programming, who called this swap a “non-zero-sum game.”Ĭostas, 64, has been NBC’s primetime host for 12 Olympic Games, dating to 1992. Bob’s flip phone does respond to texts very quickly, and I can text him any question at any time, and I know I’ll get an answer back that is from the heart and for the good of the future of the Olympics on NBC,” Tirico said in a conference call held in New York on Thursday. “And the greatest part of this for me is I’ve got the best who has ever done this as a resource. He hosted the network’s coverage of the British Open and the Breeders Cup, called a few Notre Dame football and NFL games, and was the afternoon host for the Rio Games. Tirico, 50, has hit the ground running since joining NBC last year. This marks the first time America will have a new lead voice for the Olympics since Jim Nantz with CBS in 1998. The announcement was made on “The Today Show” exactly one year away from the PyeongChang Games. On Thursday, NBC announced longtime Olympics primetime host Bob Costas is stepping down from that post, handing the top on-screen spot in sports TV to Mike Tirico, the Ann Arbor resident who joined the Peacock network last summer after a 25-year run with ESPN/ABC. We can add one more national voice to that list as the television Olympic torch has been passed. In the past few months, the likes of Dick Enberg, Vin Scully, Verne Lundquist and Brent Musburger have stepped aside. Watch Video: Reactions to Bob Costas stepping down as NBC Olympics host
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