“After nearly a decade away from the court, Mike Tirico will return to calling NBA games this year. NBC Spots says that Tirico will be its lead NBA play-by-play announcer, beginning with this season. NBC and Peacock will get NBA rights for the first time since 2002 this year under a new deal with the”, — write: www.hollywoodreporter.com
NBC Spots says that Tirico will be its lead NBA play-by-play announcer, beginning with this season. NBC and Peacock will get NBA rights for the first time since 2002 this year under a new deal with the league.
Tirico, who joined NBC in 2016, also leads coverage of the network’s NFL, Olympics, and golf programming. He previously worked at ESPN, where NBA play-by-play was one of his responsibilities. NBC will have multiple games per week after the football season ends, so it will have multiple broadcast teams.
Tirico will work “one or more” games per week after the 2026 Winter Olympics are over, but will call select games before that, including the NBA season opener that will mark the sport’s return to NBC.
NBC Sports is in the process of building out its NBA talent roster. Joining Tirico in the broadcast booth as lead analyst will be Jamal Crawford, with other studio hosts, analysts, and reporters to come.
“I could not be more thrilled about returning courtside to call NBA games,” said Tirico. “My 15 years of chronicling the best basketball players in the world still stands as one of the highlights of my career. Like so many others, my love of the league took hold during the unforgettable days of the NBA on NBC back in the ’90s. The chance to be a part of the team bringing that iconic partnership back to life has us incredibly excited.”
“We are excited that Big Event Mike Tirico will be returning to his courtside seat as the NBA returns to NBC and debuts on Peacock,” added Sam Flood, executive producer of NBC Sports. “From the Olympics to Sunday Night Football to major golf championships and now the NBA, Mike is the most versatile voice in sports.”
The NBA announced new 11-year deals with NBC, Disney/ESPN and Amazon Prime Video last year, leaving Warner Bros. Discovery in the lurch. The deal is an expensive one for NBCU, which is paying about $2.5 billion per year just for the rights (the cost to produce the games and studio shows will likely add hundreds of millions of dollars more per year).
Comcast president Mike Cavanagh noted that the NBA gives NBCU a year-round sports calendar, joining the NFL and golf programming, not to mention events like the Olympics.
“We are uniquely able to drive strong value with the NBA in multiple ways,” Cavanagh said last July. “First by growing ad sales, by selling NBA ad inventory package with the rest of our marquee programming. Second, by acquiring and monetizing subscribers, both on linear and Peacock, and third, by optimizing NBCUniversal programming investment across sports, entertainment and news.”
The NBA deals will also reshape TV, with NBC perhaps the most notable example. Hundreds of hours of broadcast entertainment on both NBC and ABC will be replaced by NBA programming, changing the economics of Hollywood, though NBC executives are hopeful that the rights could give them a chance to try out new programming that appeals to the younger NBA viewer.