Mike Tirico has officially been named the lead play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports coverage of the National Basketball Association starting with the 2025-26 season. Tirico, who is also the voice of Sunday Night Football and host of Olympics coverage, will be taking on this responsibility as the network builds out its complete broadcast team. Comcast, the parent company of the NBCUniversal subsidiary, agreed to an 11-year media rights contract reportedly worth $2.45 billion per year.
Tirico is expected to work one or more games a week following the conclusion of the NFL season and the Olympic Games Milan Cortina 2026 next February. Until that time, he will be calling select games, one of which includes the NBA season opener in October 2025. NBC Sports will also have media rights for the NBA All-Star Game, the subsequent Saturday night and up to 100 NBA regular-season per year. Furthermore, the division will also broadcast one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years under the deal.
Tirico previously called NBA and college basketball games for ESPN, ABC and ESPN Radio, where he broadcast approximately 375 regular-season and playoff games across the platform. Throughout his time with the company, he worked with several analysts, some of whom included Hubie Brown, Doris Burke, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Jalen Rose. The last time he called an NBA game for the network was in 2016 for the final game of the storied career of Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, during which the basketball superstar scored 60 points on 50 shots in a victory over the Utah Jazz from then-Staples Center.
“I could not be more thrilled about returning courtside to call NBA games,” Tirico said in a statement. “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 our team incredibly excited.”
It remains unknown who Tirico will be working with in the lead broadcasting booth for these games as NBC continues to prepare for coverage commencing in the fall. The network announced that Jamal Crawford would be joining its coverage as a game analyst and that Frank DiGraci would be the coordinating producer. More information surrounding NBA coverage on NBC for the 2025-26 season will be announced soon.
“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,” Sam Flood, executive producer at NBC Sports, said in a statement. “From the Olympics to Sunday Night Football to major golf championships and now the NBA, Mike is the most versatile voice in sports.”
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