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Bob Costas has been with NBC sports since 1979. During this time he has covered every major sport, but is perhaps most identified with the Olympics and baseball. Bob’s first Olympic experience came in Seoul, Korea, in 1988, where he served as the late-night host. He has anchored NBC's primetime coverage of the last three Summer Olympics - Barcelona, Spain in 1992, Atlanta, GA in 1996, and Sydney, Australia in 2000. Most recently, he has hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
At age twenty-two, Bob landed a job at KMOX radio in St. Louis, Missouri, one of America’s most prominent radio stations. He broadcast a wide variety of live play-by-play and studio programs from 1974 through 1981. One of his primary assignments during this time was announcing the play-by-play for the Aba’s Spirits of St. Louis team. He did regional NFL and NBA telecasts for CBS (1976-1979) and was the radio voice of the university of Missouri basketball games (1976-1981) as well as the NBA Chicago Bulls (1980).
From 1983 through 1989, Bob teamed with Tony Kubek on NBC’s baseball “Game of the Week” telecasts. He hosted the network’s “NFL Live” pre-game show for nine years (1984-1992), stepping aside following Super Bowl XVII. Costas has been involved in the coverage of six league championship series and five World Series for NBC sports. He has hosted six Super Bowls.
In 1988 Bob began to diversify beyond sports broadcasting. He served as a substitute host for Bryant Gumbel on NBC’s “Today Show,” and then went on to host his own late night program, “Later….with Bob Costas.” This Emmy award-winning show featured in-depth interviews exploring the lives of newsmakers, entertainers and personalities from varied backgrounds. Bob left “Later” in February 1994 (after a five and one-half year run) to concentrate on his new NBC duties.
In the past few years Costas returned to baseball, handling play-by-play for NBC’s all-star, playoff and World Series telecasts. He teamed with Joe Morgan for these games. Costas’ reputation within baseball is long standing, dating to his “Game of the Week” partnership with Tony Kubek. His frequent and passionate commentary about the game's history, appeal, and ongoing problems, has earned him the respect and admiration of millions of fans. His book, Fair Ball, a Fan’s Case for Baseball , earned excellent reviews, remained on the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks, and influenced the ongoing discussion concerning the game’s direction.
Bob was the play-by-play voice of the NBA on NBC from 1997 through the 1999-2000 season. For many years prior he had been the host of NBC’s NBA coverage. He was also a contributing interviewer and essayist on NBC’s NFL pre-game show, the program he previously hosted for nine years. In February 2001, HBO launched “On the Record” with Bob Costas, a weekly, hour-long program of issues, interviews and commentary.
Bob is a frequent contributor to NBC news, as a reporter and interviewer on the "Today Show" and other network programs.
Costas has won fourteen Emmy Awards--ten as outstanding sports broadcaster (including the Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Salt Lake City Olympics), two for writing, one for his late night interview show, “Later…. with Bob Costas,” and one for his play-by-play broadcast of the 1997 world series. Uniquely, Bob has been nominated for Emmys in five different categories: play-by-play, hosting, writing, interviewing (for “Later…. with Bob Costas”), and journalism.
Bob has been named “National Sportscaster of the Year” an unprecedented eight times by his peers—in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, and 2000. When he first won the NSSA award in 1985, he was thirty-three years old, the youngest announcer to be so honored.
Mr. Costas has done a tremendous amount to heighten cancer awareness. The Bob Costas Cancer Center, opened in the summer of 1998, is a regional, comprehensive program dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer and other blood and immune disorders. Through Bob's efforts, more than $10 million has been raised to deliver some of the most advanced medical care available in the world. He has been a long-time supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), serving as the emcee of the 2001 New York City Awards Dinner. He also serves as an Honorary Board Member for the MMRF.
Bob Costas is a native of Queens, New York, and grew up on Long Island. He attended Syracuse University in New York, where he majored in journalism. He began his professional career at WSYR-TV radio in 1973 while studying at Syracuse.
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