R.I.P. Greg Gumbel, veteran sportscaster
Greg Gumbel has died. As one of the longest-serving men in American broadcast sports, Gumbel worked as the voice of some of the biggest professional competitions on the planet, lending play-by-play and studio commentary to the Olympics, the Super Bowl, March Madness, and many other such events, primarily for CBS Sports. (He had a brief dalliance with NBC in the 1990s, after his home network lost its rights to broadcast NFL games). The older brother of former Today host Bryant Gumbel, Gumbel was active in TV and radio sports for fully 50 years, most especially serving as the voice of March Madness, which he covered for 26 straight years—only missing the 2024 college basketball games due to "family health issues." Per THR, his death was confirmed today by his family after a "courageous battle with cancer." Gumbel was 78.
Born in New Orleans, Gumbel was a 27-year-old former college athlete working as a hospital supplies distributor in Detroit when his brother Bryant called to let him know there was an opening for a weekend sports anchor job in Chicago. "My first reaction was, ‘Hmm, baseball [or] bedpans, baseball or bedpans. Yeah, I could go for that," Gumbel quipped years later. Having gotten a foot in the door, Gumbel spent several years serving as a sort of journeyman TV sports guy, serving as back-up announcer, pre- and post-game host, and an early anchor for ESPN's SportsCenter. In 1988, he landed at CBS, where his profile steadily grew, until we had become one of the major faces of its sports coverage. He co-hosted his first Super Bowl for the network in 1992; later that same year, he'd serve as the co-anchor for the weekday morning broadcasts for the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville France. Two years later, he'd take on the role of primetime anchor for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Norway.
When CBS lost its NFL and MLB rights in 1994, Gumbel followed them over to NBC, but he returned to his home network in 1998 (after getting another Super Bowl gig under his belt). He stayed with the network from then until his death; in 2023, CBS extended his contract specifically so that he could continue to serve as a voice of March Madness, Gumbel having become one of the most famous college basketball commentators in the sport's history.
CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson issued a statement of tribute to Gumbel today, stating that, "There has never been a finer gentleman in all of television. He was beloved and respected by those of us who had the honor to call him a friend and colleague. A tremendous broadcaster and gifted storyteller, Greg led one of the most remarkable and groundbreaking sports broadcasting careers of all time."