The Rio Summer Games marked Bob Costas’ 12th anniversary serving as primetime Olympic host at NBC. Since joining the network in 1980, at 28 years old, Bob Costas has risen through the ranks and become one the highest paid sports broadcasters in America.
Now at 64, how much longer will he be holding down the fort?
Bob Costas Net Worth as of 2019: $45 Million
1980 – 1991
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Costas was born in Queens, New York on March 22, 1952. He majored in Communications at Syracuse University. But like fellow broadcast journalism celebrity Matt Lauer, Costas didn’t graduate. He dropped out of school to accept a job at radio giant, KMOX, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1980, NBC Sports brought him on when he was 28 years old. During his long career with NBC, he has received 26 Emmy Awards and four “National Sportscaster of the Year” awards.
The 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul was just the first of many where Costas will be playing host.
1992 – 2002
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After Seoul, Costas served as primetime host for every Summer Olympics on NBC since 1992, and every single Winter Olympics since 2002. Which makes him the primetime host of 12 Olympic games. When asked if Costas is getting a little tired of the sport, he said to Sports Illustrated that he is treating each Olympics after Rio on a “case-by-case basis.”
“I’ll decide [to step aside] or we will decide mutually when the time has come to step aside,” Costas told the publication. “And that time will be before my ability to do it has diminished.”
For a quarter-century, Costas has been NBC’s pilot of primetime at the Olympics, and it’s making a more than a few people impatient with jealousy. On February 11, 2010, Stephen Colbert joked he wanted to stab Costas with an ice pick at the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver so that Colbert could take over as host.
Colbert didn’t succeed with his ice pick. Apparently.
2003 – 2012
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Frontlining the Olympics comes with a big paycheck. While no one could be totally sure, Costas’ salary with NBC is estimated to be at $7 million.
According to Sports Business Daily, four men are considered the highest-paid broadcasters in America. Bob Costas and Al Michaels at NBC, Joe Buck at Fox, and Jim Nantz at CBS. In the Sports Business Daily article published in 2012, each of the four hosts earns in the range of $5 million a year. Out of the top four, Costas earns the most.
Perhaps the demands of the job make it difficult to sustain his marriage, Costas divorced his wife of 18 years, Carole Krummenacher, in 2001.
Three years later, Costas married his second wife, Jill Sutton. The couple now resides primarily in New York.
2013 – 2017
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In 2013, it was reported by several publications that Costas and his wife Jill Sutton bought a 4,534-square-foot mansion in Newport Coast for $4.7 million. The home features a bocce ball court and salt water pool.
2016 marked the last time that Costas would serve as the primetime host for NBC’s Olympics coverage. On February 9, 2017, Costas announced that he would cede this prestigious gig to Mike Tirico.
2018
For the first time since 1992, Bob Costas will not be hosting the Olympics coverage in 2018 for the Winter Games in South Korea.
2019
Rumours are Bob Costas might take retirement early from NBC this year canceling his current deal which runs until 2021.
