Bob Costas Retiring From Baseball Play-by-Play After 4 Roaring Decades

Published: 11/1/2024, 10:51:18 PM EDT

Bob Costas Retiring From Baseball Play-by-Play After 4 Roaring Decades — Master of Ceremonies Bob Costas attends the 33rd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner, which raised millions of dollars for the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis at The New York Hilton Midtown in New York on Sept. 24, 2018. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis)

After an impressive 42 seasons, legendary broadcaster Bob Costas is stepping away from his role as a baseball play-by-play announcer.

Robert Quinlan Costas had been calling games for both MLB Network and TBS Sports in recent years, with his final assignment being the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals.

Costas had been quietly planning his retirement from baseball play-by-play for over a year.

His contract with TBS expired at the end of the season, lending itself a fitting closure to his career behind the mic for Major League Baseball.

The Athletic first broke the news of Costas' decision. Costas indicated he would address his decision in more detail at a later date.

From 1982 to 1989 and again from 1994 to 2000, he was a staple of NBC’s sports coverage, commentating on National Football League and National Basketball Association games, as well as Major League Baseball—his favorite sport.

With the introduction of the NBC Sports Network, Costas also became the host of the new monthly interview program Costas Tonight, which aired for one season.

He was also one of the announcers during the 1995 World Series and became NBC's main play-by-play voice for the Fall Classic in 1997 and 1999.

For millions of fans, Costas’ commentary became inseparably linked with the game’s most memorable moments.

From 2003 to 2014, he hosted NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Open golf tournament. In 2015 he joined Al Michaels to cover Boxing on NBC. He also hosted pre-race coverage for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series.

In addition to his time at NBC, Costas joined TBS in 2021 as a studio host for its coverage of the National League Championship Series, calling games for the past three seasons, eventually calling games for TBS’ package of Tuesday night regular-season matchups to go with its postseason coverage since 2022.

Costas has also been a prominent figure on MLB Network since its inception in 2009. In addition, he contributed to multiple shows and series, including MLB Now, Studio 42 with Bob Costas, The Sound of Baseball, and Costas at the Movies.

Even in retirement from regular play-by-play, Costas will continue to do some work for the network on select key events, including the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement.

The sports commentator was a celebrated figure in sports media, winner of numerous accolades, including a record eight National Sports Media Association National Sportscaster of the Year awards, among many others.

In 2018, he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence by the Baseball Hall of Fame, a testament to his contributions to the game and sports broadcasting as a whole.

His work extended beyond baseball; Costas was the prime-time host of NBC's Olympics coverage from 1992 to 2016, guiding viewers through ten Olympic Games as prime-time host.

He has also regularly appeared as a commentator on sports issues on CNN.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.