Mike Tirico has enough on his plate.
The NBC Sports frontman is already the lead voice for the network’s Sunday Night Football package, will call Sunday Night Basketball once NBC’s premier NBA package tips off next month, hosts primetime coverage of the Olympics, and is the lead anchor for the Kentucky Derby. Tirico might have superhuman abilities to juggle these responsibilities, but even the best in the business need a break once in awhile. So when asked whether or not he would be interested in calling games on NBC’s new Sunday Night Baseball package, thereby completing the Sunday night sports trifecta, Tirico finally acknowledged his limitations.
“I’ve never called a baseball game,” Tirico told Brian Steinberg of Variety. “At some point, I hope I get the chance to do one, but the plate is way too full right now.”
NBC has yet to announce its broadcast plans for Sunday Night Baseball, but Fox Sports’ Jason Benetti is reported to be the network’s top choice to serve as lead play-by-play voice for the package. Benetti calls MLB, college football, college basketball, and the occasional NFL game for Fox Sports in addition to serving as the television voice of the Detroit Tigers. ESPN and Baltimore Orioles announcer Kevin Brown has also been reported as a candidate to join NBC’s baseball coverage this season.
It’s no surprise that Tirico would take his name out of the running for the baseball gig, but his proven versatility across sports had to at least crossed the mind of NBC Sports executives as they began weighing their options for the position. After all, having Tirico provide continuity throughout NBC’s Sunday night programming across the entire calendar year would establish a level of familiarity for viewers that would’ve been unprecedented in the history of broadcast sports.
In just over a week, Tirico will face another unprecedented assignment: calling the Super Bowl before hosting a night of primetime Olympic programming for NBC. He might be the only sports broadcaster in the country with the ability to do both back-to-back.
“Mike is a unicorn,” Sunday Night Football executive producer Rob Hyland told Variety. “I’ve never met anyone like him, and I don’t know if I’ll ever meet anyone like him again.”
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.