Background and career
Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster for MLB Network and NBC Sports. He is well known for his time with NBC Sports, where he worked from 1980 through 2019, and again since 2026. He has received 29 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 1988 until 2016. He is also currently employed by Warner Bros. Discovery, where he is a political commentator for CNN on issues pertaining to sports.
Costas is the son of John George Costas and Jayne Costas (née Quinlan). His paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants from Athens and Kefalovryso on Kalymnos while his maternal family is of Irish descent. He grew up in Commack, New York, and attended Commack High School South. He attended the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, but dropped out in 1974. Costas got his first radio experience as a freshman at WAER, a student run radio station. In the mid-1980s, he established the Robert Costas Scholarship at the Newhouse School, of which the first recipient was Mike Tirico in 1987.
While studying communications in college, Costas began his professional career in 1973, at WSYR-TV (now WSTM-TV) and WSYR-FM radio in Syracuse. He called for the minor league Syracuse Blazers of the Eastern Hockey League. After leaving school in 1974, he joined KMOX radio in St. Louis. He covered games of the American Basketball Association (ABA). Costas would call Missouri Tigers basketball and co-host KMOX's Open Line call-in program. He did play-by-play for Chicago Bulls broadcasts on WGN-TV during the 1979–1980 NBA season.
In 1980, Costas was hired by NBC. Don Ohlmeyer, who at the time ran NBC's sports division, told 28-year-old Costas he looked like a 14-year-old. For many years, Costas hosted NBC's National Football League (NFL) coverage and National Basketball Association (NBA) coverage. He also did play-by-play for NBA and Major League Baseball (MLB) coverage. With the introduction of the NBC Sports Network, Costas also became the host of the new monthly interview program Costas Tonight.
On March 30, 2015, it was announced that Costas would join forces with Marv Albert (blow-by-blow) and Al Michaels (host) on the April 11, 2015, edition of NBC's primetime PBC on NBC boxing series. Costas was added to serve as a special contributor for the event from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He would narrate and write a feature on the storied history of boxing in New York City.
Costas hosted NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open golf tournament from 2003 to 2014.
