Bob Costas to speak at ASU's Cronkite School Friday

Award-winning NBC Sports primetime host Bob Costas is coming to Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication this week.

Costas, the host of NBC’s “Football Night in America,” will lead a discussion on sports journalism and his preparation for the upcoming “Sunday Night Football” game between the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots. The public talk is scheduled from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, in the Cronkite School’s First Amendment Forum.

Costas, a 27-time Emmy Award winner, recently hosted his 12th Olympic Games for NBC Sports in Rio de Janeiro, and his 11th as a primetime host, the most of any broadcaster in U.S. television history. He is the only broadcaster to have won Emmys for sports, news, and entertainment.

In 2012, Costas received the Cronkite School’s Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, an annual honor given to a distinguished journalist who embodies the values of the school’s namesake.

“We are excited to welcome Bob Costas back to Arizona State University,” said Christopher Callahan, dean of the Cronkite School. “This is going to be a great opportunity for our outstanding students to talk with a legend in sports broadcasting.”

In addition to his Olympic and NFL responsibilities, Costas co-hosts NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes and has hosted U.S. Open and Ryder Cup. He also contributes to a variety of NBC News programs, including “NBC Nightly News” and “TODAY.”

Costas joined NBC in 1980, first covering Major League Baseball, the NFL and college basketball. From 1982-1989, he was the play-by-play announcer for MLB’s “Game of the Week” telecasts and also hosted All-Star Game and World Series pre-game shows. He served as the host of “NFL on NBC,” the network’s NFL pre-game show, from 1984-1992.

Beginning in 1990, Costas hosted NBC’s NBA pre-game show, “NBA Showtime,” for six seasons. In 1997, he became the top play-by-play announcer for “NBA on NBC” game telecasts, a role he held for three seasons.

He created “Costas Coast-to-Coast,” a nationally syndicated sports radio show that ran from 1986-1996, and hosted a late-night interview program, the Emmy Award-winning “Later with Bob Costas,” on NBC from 1988-1994. On HBO, he hosted “On the Record” from 2001-2005, “Inside the NFL” from 2002-2008 and “Costas Now,” a one-hour sports magazine show, from 2005-2009. He is the author of the best-seller “Fair Ball: A Fan’s Case for Baseball.”