Bob Costas closed NBC's coverage of Major League Baseball in 2000 when the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics in the AL Championship Series.
When NBC returns to covering baseball this season, Costas will be the first voice welcoming the sport back after the network announced Thursday that the 29-time Sports Emmy winner will host its “Sunday Night Baseball” pregame show.
He will anchor NBC's coverage when the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers open the season hosting Arizona on Thursday, March 26.
“We're trying to make ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ feel big. There's no bigger name associated with baseball than Bob and also great to have him back in the NBC fold,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said to The Associated Press. “Bob was the face of NBC Sports and maybe the network for a period of time. To bring him back as he sort of winds down his career is the right thing to do. And when we got baseball back it made a lot of sense.”
NBC, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, carried baseball from 1939-89. It was part of the short-lived Baseball Network with ABC in 1994 and ’95 and then aired playoff games from 1996 through 2000.
“I think a step forward is that baseball was back at one of its natural homes, which is NBC. There’s a lot of baseball history here,” Costas said.
Costas was with NBC for 39 years before leaving in 2019. He hosted 12 Olympics, including 11 as the primetime host, and seven Super Bowls while having a role in 10 NBA Finals and seven World Series.
He has been an emeritus announcer at NBC since 2016, but the return of baseball and the NBA made this a perfect time for a more active role.
“While I’ve been gone from NBC since 2019, we have been in nearly constant contact since shortly after that and just waiting for the right time and the lineup of the right circumstances to come together for me to return. And now those circumstances have perfectly come together,” Costas said during a conference call. “Nothing that I will do will overlap with what others are doing. Others are in the primes of their careers and I’m an icing on the cake guy now, a contributor, a role player, and I look forward to it, especially just because it’s under the NBC umbrella.”
Baseball has always been Costas’ favorite sport. He called games on NBC from 1982-89 and again from 1994-2000. He was one of the announcers for the 1995 World Series and then the main play-by-play voice for the Fall Classic in 1997 and ’99.
He also called games for TBS and MLB Network, but announced after the 2024 American League Division Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees that he was retiring from play by play.
Costas has been a voice of MLB Network since its start in 2009 and was part of its coverage of Tuesday's Hall of Fame announcement.
In 2018, he received the Hall's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence.
“There’s no one more associated with baseball who hasn’t played the game than Bob," NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood said. “Others who have played the game might be more associated, but for a non-player. Bob has impacted baseball for generations and will continue to do so now that he’s partnered back with us.”
Costas has had some role with NBC with its return to NBA coverage this season, narrating some opening teases. The 29-time Sports Emmy winner was either a host or play by play announcer during the network’s first NBA coverage stint from 1990 through 2002.
NBC said Costas will continue to contribute to NBA games this season, with additional details to be announced.
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