NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics is producing dazzling moments from athletes like Simone Biles, and entertaining coverage from rapper Snoop Dogg and Gold Zone host Scott Hanson. But to me, the unsung hero of Paris has been NBC’s ironman host Mike Tirico.
After jetting to Paris from the British Open in Scotland, the versatile announcer has been a constant presence in America’s living rooms, hosting both daytime coverage and NBC’s “Primetime in Paris.” He’s getting only four hours of sleep, before restarting his own Olympic version of Groundhog Day. Adrenaline and French coffee help. So how is Tirico doing it?
“Not much sleep—but that’s O.K. You remind yourself every day that you get to host the Olympics, and you get through,” Tirico told Front Office Sports in an interview from Paris. “The hardest three hours for me every day is the three hours in between.”
The former ESPN host/play-by-play announcer is one of the last of a breed. The sports TV world of the 1970s and 1980s was studded with versatile sportscasters who called multiple sports with aplomb. Start with NBC’s own Bob Costas and the late, great Jim McKay of ABC Sports. But there was also Dick Stockton and the late Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Howard Cosell, and Chris Schenkel, legends who covered everything from the Olympics to the NFL, MLB, and NBA. They were avuncular and always seemed to narrate the biggest sports moments.
Not anymore. There’s Kenny Albert of Fox Sports, who wrote a book about it called A Mic for All Seasons. But the list grows shorter every year. Jim Nantz, the face of CBS Sports, gave up his longtime lead role on March Madness to Ian Eagle, and now basically works the NFL and golf. Similarly, Joe Buck, who called everything from MLB to golf at Fox, only calls the NFL for ESPN.
Tirico, on the other hand, keeps adding big sports at NBC. With NBC regaining the NBA, he will be the network lead voice for the The Association, the Olympics, NFL, and major championship golf. Tirico also leads the network’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown horse racing as well as the Indianapolis 500, instantly lending gravitas to all of it.
‘You Did Everything’
The 57-year-old Tirico grew up in Queens, idolizing play-by-play announcer Marv Albert, who alternated between local news and calling Knicks and Rangers games. Growing up, Tirico recalls the “template of being a sportscaster, to me, was you did everything.”
Adds Tirico: “I think versatility is foundationally laid into my approach, from watching the guys who I idolized growing up,” he says, like Albert, Costas, and McKay.
“And then practically, when I started at ESPN, because of that SportsCenter experience, you never knew what highlight was going to come across your desk, and you just wanted to make sure you did it the right way. … I love looking to wake up, watch the best athletes in the world, then tell their story. It gets me motivated to work every day. I just feel very lucky I’ve been in a position to do those things you only dream of as a kid.”
Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympics production, says Tirico has been an integral part of the Paris Olympics planning process for three years. That preparation matters when the red light goes on and the world is watching.
“Of all the success stories with these Olympics, Mike’s excellence has almost gone underappreciated, because you just expect it. And this Olympic schedule plays into all of his strengths,” she tells FOS. “First, he’s on the air during the most important live finals at night in Paris [daytime in U.S.], which leans in to his excellence because he can always provide insightful perspective in the moment. That’s months of preparation at work there.”
One-Two Punch
The big media story of Paris is NBC’s huge surge in linear and streaming audiences from the previous two Olympics. Tirico thinks the one-two punch of a COVID-19-free Olympics, and the glamorous City of Light, turbocharged TV ratings both in the U.S. and globally. Over the first 10 days, NBC’s total viewership average is up 80% from the Tokyo Games in 2021, averaging 33 million viewers.
“When you think about COVID … it takes us back to watching the NFL games when there were no fans in the stands. It just lacked atmosphere, even with some enhanced audio playing in the background. It just wasn’t the same, right?” says Tirico, who joined NBC in July 2016. “This has the same feel to it. Every day there is some iconic venue right in the middle of a great event. That hasn’t happened before in the history of the Games.”
Then there’s NBC’s star-studded coverage with Snoop, Peyton Manning, Martha Stewart, Alex Cooper, Kelly Clarkson, among others. Besides being an insta-expert in 40 Olympic sports, Tirico must also talk music, pop culture, and entertainment with his famous guests. So far they’ve included Team USA athletes like Katie Ledecky and the men’s gymnastics team as well as Saturday Night Live star turned surfing correspondent Colin Jost and comedians John Mulaney, Mikey Day, and Marcello Hernandez. But their own enthusiasm for the five rings makes the job easier, he says.
“It’s [not] every day of my career that I walk out and get to sit next to Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, and Martha Stewart’s doing highlights with Snoop, and I’m kind of working around them. It’s totally different,” says Tirico.
“Martha Stewart loves the Olympics, Snoop Dogg loves the Olympics, Alex Cooper loves the Olympics. Peyton had so much fun talking to the athletes along the way in preparation for the opening ceremony. Kelly Clarkson? Same deal. Sports have been my professional life. But I love music, I love politics, I love entertainment, all that stuff.”
On-Air Reunion With NBC Predecessor?
This is Tirico’s fourth Olympics as NBC’s prime-time host and fifth overall. But in a way he’ll come full circle in Paris. As a college student at Syracuse in 1987, he was the first recipient of an annual scholarship in Costas’s name. Now the 72-year-old Costas, who served as NBC’s prime-time host for a record 12 Olympics from 1988 to 2016, is in Paris this year as the network’s guest. Don’t be surprised if Costas and Tirico share a TV screen before these Games come to a close. Not to mention Al Michaels, his play-by-play predecessor on Sunday Night Football.
Tirico would welcome the chance to go on air with his predecessor. “I’ve known Bob for almost 35 years. He’s been nothing but great along the way. If there’s anything I’m proudest of regarding this job, and hosting the Olympics … is from 2000 on, every Olympic Games prime-time host has been a Syracuse alum. Bob to me. I love that fact. And I’m so proud of that, because I love my school as much as anything.”
NBC’s sprawling coverage hasn’t been perfect, of course. Announcer Leigh Diffey botched his call of the 100M race, rushing to name Kishane Thompson of Jamaica as the winner. Instead, it was a photo finish won by American Noah Lyles. Diffey owned up to his error on X. “The men’s 100 was epic & closest of all time! My eyes & instinct told me Kishane Thompson won,” he posted. “Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won. I got it wrong. I am thrilled for [Lyles] as his story only gets bigger!”
But overall, Paris is shaping up to be NBC’s biggest Olympic triumph since London in 2012. That bodes well for the network with the Olympics coming to America in 2028 (Los Angeles) and 2034 (Salt Lake City). Tying together NBC’s 3,000-person team has been Tirico, who was thrilled to learn NBC was regaining rights to the NBA while working the Paris Games. As Solomon says: “There is a company-wide appreciation of how Mike represents all of us, and it’s never been more evident than with these Paris Olympics.”
Michael McCarthy’s “Tuned In” column is at your fingertips every week with the latest insights and ongoings around sports media. If he hears it, you will, too.
This September, the column will come to life as a one-day event bringing together industry experts to discuss media trends and the future of fan viewership. The event will take place in New York on Sept. 10 at Times Center (242 W. 41st St.).
