Few have had as wide and deep of a sportscasting career as Greg Gumbel. Tributes to Gumbel, known for decades of work across CBS (especially on the NFL and college basketball, but also the Olympics, MLB, the NBA, and even NASCAR), ESPN, MSG, WFAN, and more, flooded in Friday after news of his passing at 78.
That news seems to have first come out from veteran producer and director Dan Forer (now president of First Flight Entertainment) on Facebook.
CBS later put out a statement from Gumbel’s wife Marcy and daughter Michelle, noting that he died following a battle with cancer.
A statement from the family of Greg Gumbel pic.twitter.com/oAkSrW8EtJ
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) December 27, 2024
Gumbel’s career history is incredible. Born in New Orleans, he grew up on the South Side of Chicago, then played baseball at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated with a B.A. in English from that school. The first big break in his sports journalism career came from him replacing eventual ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson as a sportscaster on NBC’s owned-and-operated affiliate WMAQ in Chicago in 1973; Gumbel was selling hospital supplies in Detroit at that point but got a tip from his brother Bryant (who’s had his own amazing journalism career; he was working for NBC o-and-o KNBC in LA at that point) that WMAQ was holding auditions, went back to Chicago for those, and won the job.
Gumbel went on to work at WMAQ for seven years but went through an incredible ascent after that. He was an early figure at ESPN, heading there following the network’s 1979 launch. His work there included anchoring SportsCenter and doing NBA play-by-play after they got some rights there in 1982. He then also worked on MSG, as a backup Knicks’ play-by-play voice for Marv Albert and as host of their Yankees’ pregame and postgame shows beginning in 1989. He was the first morning host on WFAN but was replaced by Don Imus in 1988 after WFAN acquired the signal to the NBC station Imus had been on.
Perhaps Gumbel’s greatest national prominence came with his work for CBS Sports. He started there as a backup NFL announcer in 1988 but really rose to fame in 1990 when he replaced Brent Musburger as host (alongside Terry Bradshaw) of their famed The NFL Today. He’d hold that chair through 1993. Gumbel also called college basketball for CBS from 1989-93, called college baseball for them (including the College World Series), and anchored Winter Olympics coverage for them in 1992 and 1994 as morning host and primetime host respectively. During this period, he served as a local announcer for the Seattle Mariners (1991) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1992-93) as well.
In the summer of 1994, Gumbel left CBS for NBC following CBS’ loss of NFL rights with the launch of Fox. He served as their NFL studio host, did play-by-play on prominent MLB and NBA broadcasts for them, and hosted daytime coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympics. But he went back to CBS in 1998, first working on their lead NFL game team alongside Phil Simms and serving as the lead studio host for their college basketball coverage.
In 2004, Gumbel swapped roles with The NFL Today studio host Jim Nantz, and in 2006, he was replaced in that role by James Brown. He went back to calling NFL games, first on the second team, and called games for them on various teams through the 2022 season. He also remained as their lead college basketball studio host, including for March Madness and the Final Four, and signed an extension in 2023 to continue in that role while shifting away from the NFL. But he missed this year’s NCAA Tournament due to family health issues, prompting warm words from the cast about how much he meant to those broadcasts.
Gumbel had an amazing broadcasting career, one that spanned a huge amount of prominent national sports broadcasts. The tributes to him have poured in immediately.
Sad to share the death of Greg Gumbel, one of the best sports TV guys of all time. RIP.
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman.bsky.social) December 27, 2024 at 3:20 PM
So sad to hear about the passing of Greg Gumbel. Whether hosting or calling games Greg did it with passion poise and made it look effortless. One of the best ever RIP pic.twitter.com/PqV2gj4wma
— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 27, 2024
RIP Greg Gumbel. One of the friendliest guys in the history of a venomous industry. https://t.co/9nseX6TYzV
— Damon Bruce (@DamonBruce) December 27, 2024
RIP Greg Gumbel. One of the friendliest guys in the history of a venomous industry. https://t.co/9nseX6TYzV
— Damon Bruce (@DamonBruce) December 27, 2024
A 50-year career in sports broadcasting is a rarity, and Greg Gumbel was a true professional throughout. RIP to a legend. 🙏🏾✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/SnicrgXpUy
— Michael Eaves (@michaeleaves) December 27, 2024
When you think of Selection Sunday you think of Greg Gumbel.
RIP to a 🐐
pic.twitter.com/wlQHymkGSc— Mark Titus Show (@MarkTitusShow) December 27, 2024
Our thoughts go out to Gumbel’s family and friends.