Who is Bob Costas?
American sportscaster Robert Quinlan ‘Bob’ Costas was born in New York City, USA, on 22 March 1952, making Aries his zodiac sign. He’s probably known best for the 39 years which he spent working for NBC Sports, starting in 1980, during which he won nearly 30 Emmy Awards, and covered 12 Olympic Games.
Bob’s today working for Discovery Sports; he’s also providing commentary for CNN, and play-by-play for the show “Major League Baseball (MLB) on TBS”.
Education and early life
Bob was raised in Commack, New York State, alongside his sister Valerie Costas, by their Irish mother Jayne Costas (nee Quinlan) and Greek father John George Costas; his parents’ professions remain undisclosed, as Bob respects their privacy.
He studied at Commack High School South, and it was during his time there that he became interested in journalism, as he reported on the school’s football and basketball games; he was interested in several other activities, including creative writing, appearing in school plays and playing baseball.
Bob matriculated in 1970, and continued his education at Syracuse University’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communication, but dropped out in 1974, only a couple of months before he was to graduate, as he wanted to pursue a career. He was a freshman when he began working for the student radio station WAER.
Bob’s career
Bob was still attending college in 1973 when he was hired at the TV station WSYR in Syracuse, New York State; he was in charge of calling for the Eastern Hockey League’s Syracuse Blazers.
After dropping out of college in the following year, he moved to St. Louis and began working at the radio station KMOX; he was mostly in charge of co-hosting the show “Open Live” and calling for the University of Missouri’s basketball team the Missouri Tigers. He also did play-by-play for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1979 and 1980, for the TV station WGN.
Yes, Bob Costas did indeed work for WGN-TV as a young man. He did play-by-play for the #Bulls during the 1979-80 season with Johnny Red Kerr on color. #LastDance pic.twitter.com/ZIlW7F26he
— WGNTV (@WGNTV) April 20, 2020
Bob joined NBC in 1980, and was told by the late president of the NBC Network’s west coast division Donald Winfred ‘Don’ Ohlmeyer Jr. that he looked as if he were 14, even though he was 28 at that time. In the following years, Bob covered both NBA and National Football League (NFL) games, as well as did play-by-play for MLB; after NBC Sports Network was launched, he also began hosting his own interview show “Costas Tonight”.
He hosted the NBC’s coverage of the golf tournament US Open from 2003 through 2014, and it was revealed on 30 March 2015 that he would be hosting the NBC’s boxing show “PBC on NBC”.
Some of the Olympic Games which he covered for NBC were the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea, the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, and the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It was announced in November 2017 that Bob would provide pre-race coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series.
From 2001 through 2018, Bob co-hosted the Kentucky Derby for NBC.
It was revealed on 9 February 2017 that Bob was preparing to quit NBC Sports, and he officially left on 15 January 2019.
He signed a contract with WarnerMedia’s TBS on 7 October 2021, and began covering post-season baseball; Bob’s currently providing play-by-play for “Tuesday Night Baseball”. He’s also been working as a contributor for CNN since July 2020.
Most popular YouTube videos
Bob doesn’t have his own YouTube channel, but a number of videos featuring him have been uploaded by other users onto the video sharing service, and some have even been watched over a million times. Most feature Bob expressing his opinion on various matters, especially sports, and we’re about to cover the three most viewed videos amongst these, which’ve contributed to Bob’s internet popularity.
His #1 video “Charlie Watts Interview on LATER with Bob Costas” was uploaded by R E on 15 March 2019, and has since been watched over 1.1 million times; it features Bob interviewing the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts.
Bob’s second most popular video “Mickey Mantle Interview by Bob Costas” was uploaded by Randall Swearingen on 18 February 2011, and has since been viewed over a million times; if features Bob interviewing the late American professional baseball player Mickey Mantle.
His #3 most viewed video, “Bob Costas explains the intricate system Houston Astros used to steal signs”, was uploaded by CNN on 14 January 2020, and has since been viewed more than 930,000 times; it features Bob talking about the baseball team Houston Astros’ strategy to steal signs.
Love life and marriages
Bob’s married twice. His first wife was American non-celebrity Carole ‘Randy’ Randall Krummenacher; they married in 1983 and divorced in 2001 – Carole gave birth to their son Keith in 1986, and their daughter Taylor followed in 1989; when Carole was pregnant with their son, Bob joked that he would name the boy Kirby if the late American professional baseball player Kirby Puckett would succeed at batting over .350. Kirby did achieve the feat, and after reminding Bob about his promise, he named his son Keith Michael Kirby Costas.
Since 12 March 2004, Bob’s been married to his second wife Jill Sutton – they don’t have children together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Bob’s son Keith’s today an associate producer of the show “MLB Tonight”, and has won two Sports Emmys; his daughter Taylor’s the associate producer at NBC, and has won one Sports Emmy.
Bob was featured as a play-by-play announcer in the 1994 comedy movie “The Scout”, and was then cast to appear in the 1998 sports comedy film “BASEketball”, the 2001 comedy movie “Pootie Tang”, and the 2021 comedy movie “Here Today”.
He was the play-by-play announcer in the 2002 video game “Triple Play”.
Ryan Gosling’s one of his favorite actors, and some of his favorite movie include “Remember the Titans”, “Blue Valentine” and “The Place Beyond the Pines”.
Appearance and net worth
Bob’s age is 71. He has brown hair and blue eyes, is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and his weight is about 150lbs (68kgs).
Bob’s net worth has been estimated at over $50 million, as of July 2023.
