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Bob Costas is headed back to his former home.
Costas, who previously announced games on NBC for nearly four decades, will be back at the network to be a part of their new MLB Sunday night package, the longtime commentator confirmed Thursday.
NBC announced that Costas will host the “Sunday Night Baseball” pregame show and continue as an NBA contributor for the network.
Costas also will be anchoring NBC coverage of the Dodgers’ season opener against the Diamondbacks on March 26.
Bob Costas Getty Images“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.”
Costas departed from NBC in 2019 after a 39-year run with the network, where the legendary announcer hosted 12 Olympics, seven Super Bowls, and covered 10 NBA Finals and seven World Series.
As NBC’s MLB coverage ended after the 2000 season, Costas later opted for coverage at MLB Network — where he had been a voice since its inception in 2009 — as baseball has been his preferred sport to announce.
Costas also has called games for TBS, but did announce that he would be retiring from play-by-play following the 2024 American League Division Series between the Yankees and Royals.
“As appreciative as I am of other aspects of my career, especially HBO and the MLB Network, for 40 years, my true broadcasting home was NBC,” Costas said in a statement on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. “So many great moments, memories, and friendships.
“Now, I am very grateful to Rick Cordella and Sam Flood for inviting me back in an emeritus role to conclude my career where so much of it played out.”
Costas recently had some suggestions for the MLB players and owners and their upcoming labor negotiations.
During an appearance on Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo’s SiriusXM radio show earlier this week, Costas said the league should decrease the number of regular season games played to 156, down from 162.
“They should be able to cut back to at least 156,” Costas said. “Which is one three-game home series for each team.”
The 162-game format has been the standard for the MLB since the early 1960s — the American League introduced it in 1961, with the National League adopting the same schedule the following season.
To make up for the lost regular season games, Costas called for an expanded playoff format.
“The division series should be best of 7,” Costas added. “The [league championship series] is best of 7, the World Series is best of 7. But the division series is the only one that’s guaranteed to include a wild card and the third-best division winner, which is sometimes a relatively weak team. Why would you want that one to be more subject to a flukey result than the others?
“In order to do that — so that you don’t spill in deeper to November — you’re gonna have to cut back on the number of regular season games, but you could make some of that up with additional television revenue, because television likes inventory.”
English (US)