Tirico left ESPN after 25 years with the network when his contract expired in mid-2016, and was subsequently hired by NBC Sports. Tirico debuted during NBC's coverage of the 2016 Open Championship and has since served as the network's lead host for golf coverage.[3]
Tirico joined ESPN in 1991 as a SportsCenter anchor,[14] after four years as sports director at CBS affiliate WTVH in Syracuse, New York, during his undergraduate years at Syracuse University.[15] Tirico was noted for his versatile nature and the variety of assignments he handled for SportsCenter. Tirico was the first host seen on ESPNews.[16] Tirico 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). Tirico also hosted studio coverage of various ESPN and ABC covered events, including a stint on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown (previously known as NFL Prime Monday) from 1993 to 2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcast NBA games on ESPN/ABC and play-by-play for the NBA Finals on ESPN Radio. He anchored the 2009 U.S. Open (tennis) and co-anchored the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2016 (his last assignment at ESPN/ABC). Tirico was one of the subjects covered in Mike Freeman's 2000 book ESPN: 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]
NBC Sports (2016–present)
On May 9, 2016, after a leak the prior month, it was officially announced that Mike Tirico would join NBC 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 the UEFA Euro 2016 soccer tournament.[22] Tirico's first on-air appearance on an NBC property came during the 2016 Open Championship on NBC's Golf 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.[23]
Tirico served as a studio host and contributor for NBC's broadcasts of the 2016 Summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro in August.[21]Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated suggested that Tirico could potentially succeed Bob Costas as the primetime host of NBC's Olympics coverage. NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus explained following the 2014 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 the NBC Sports Radio network.[24]
Sports Business Journal initially reported that Tirico would serve as NBC's lead play-by-play announcer for Thursday Night Football (which was expanding to NBC during the upcoming season), and was likely to be a future successor to Al Michaels.[24] 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.[25] In the meantime, Tirico called the two preseason games allocated to NBC, hosted Football Night in America on-site[26][27] and was placed on play-by-play for NBC's first three Notre Dame college football games to fill in for Dan Hicks, due to Hicks' conflicts with his lead play-by-play role on NBC's golf coverage, including the 2016 Ryder Cup. Tirico would join Hicks to host Sunday coverage of the event.[28][29]
Consequently, he only called to two late-season games in the Thursday Night Football package produced for NFL Network, held on a Saturday and Christmas Sunday respectively, with Doug Flutie and Tony Dungy.[30][31] In November 2016, NBC announced that Tirico would perform play-by-play with Cris Collinsworth on three Sunday Night Football games (including the Thanksgiving primetime game) and one Thursday Night Football game, filling in for Al Michaels. Michaels had requested time off due to NBC's increased NFL workload.[30][32]
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 the 2018 Winter Olympics. Tirico also replaced Costas as studio host for NBC's NFL coverage and Football Night in America.[33][34][35][36]
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's Thursday Night Football games.[37] Starting that year, he took over the role of Tom Hammond in Triple Crown coverage[38] and became full-time as the play-by-play announcer for Notre Dame football.[39]
Tirico skipped Super 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.[40] In the 2018 NFL season, after losing Thursday Night Football to Fox, Tirico was assigned to NBC's Thanksgiving game, joined by his Football Night in America colleagues Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison.[41][42] He also called two NFL Network Special games in December produced by Fox Sports.[43]
In a similar move to 2016, Tirico filled in for Al Michaels on a few Sunday Night Football games during the 2020 season. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, NBC decided to give Michaels 3–5 "bye weeks", in order to minimize travel.[49][50] One of those weeks was due to Michaels failing to pass NBC's COVID-19 protocols. He also worked one of NBC's two Wild Card games, albeit remotely, also due to COVID-19 protocols.[51] 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 with Tony Dungy and Kathryn 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.
NBC announced in July 2024 that the NBA would return to the network in 2025 after a 23-year absence. Tirico has been named the main play-by-play announcer for NBA games on NBC.
Tirico hosted his first show from WAER radio in Syracuse, the station where he started his sports broadcasting career, on the campus of Syracuse University.[65] Fellow Orange alum Bob Costas was his first guest. On September 20, 2007, Tirico began hosting the short-lived The Mike Tirico Show on ESPN Radio with co-host Scott Van Pelt (later renamed Tirico &Van Pelt in May 2008), replacing Dan 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 as The Scott Van Pelt Show, with Ryen Russillo becoming the new co-host.
Awards
In 2017, Tirico won the Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.[13]
Personal life
Tirico and his wife Debbie, a Michigan native, have two children. The Tiricos have lived in Ann 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. "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]
References
^ abLage, Larry (August 12, 2006). "Monday Night's New Voice". The Herald-Palladium. p. 8B. AGE: 39 (Born Dec. 13, 1966 in New York.)
^Williams, Jim (March 22, 2007). "PTI: Tirico speaks out". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
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