When NBC announced its record 170 announcers for the Rio Olympics, one name was noticeably absent. Mike Tirico. Well, we know now what he will be doing in Rio. He’ll be one of the daytime hosts for NBC to be stationed at its Copacabana Beach set, almost in the same location where he was a host for ESPN for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
But before Mike heads to Brazil, he’ll be back at a familiar event, the Open Championship. He won’t be calling the golf will call the first two rounds for Golf Channel, but Tirico’s main role will be the host on NBC and Golf Channel while Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller will be stationed at the 18th tower at Royal Troon in Scotland. Tirico was the main announcer on the Open for ABC and ESPN starting in 1997 lasting through 2015.
The hosting role at the Open would be similar to what Jim McKay did for ABC in his final years covering the event with interestingly enough Tirico in the 18th tower.
Following his hosting roles at the Open and the Olympics, Tirico will move to the broadcast booth to call NBC’s two NFL preseason games. It’ll be a chance for Tirico to get familiar with his new Thursday Night Football partner, Cris Collinsworth. Tirico and Collinsworth will call Atlanta vs. Miami in Orlando on August 25 and then three days later, Cincinnati at Jacksonville.
NBC has not announced Tirico’s roles past August 31, but one would expect he would be part of NBC/Golf Channel’s coverage of the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine from September 30 through October 2 and perhaps calling the golf tournaments in place of Dan Hicks when there’s a conflict with Notre Dame football.
NBC notes that Tirico will be involved in the Peacock’s biggest events and the assignments from the Open Championship to the Olympics to the NFL shows how much the Sports Group covets him by putting him right to work.
We’ll be seeing plenty of Tirico on NBC starting next week throughout the rest of the summer and into football season.
