The Big Lead

Legendary sportscaster shares deeply personal reason for avoiding sports gambling

By J.P. Hoornstra

NBC Network television commentators Hines Ward (left) and Cris Collinsworth (middle) and Bob Costas (right) before the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field in 2024.
NBC Network television commentators Hines Ward (left) and Cris Collinsworth (middle) and Bob Costas (right) before the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field in 2024. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Bob Costas quite nearly followed in his father's footsteps — not as an electrical engineer, but as a sports gambler.

Costas, who recently retired from a legendary sportscasting career that spanned six decades, shared a deeply personal anecdote in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal about how he cut ties with sports gambling at his father's insistence.

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"My father, John, was a smart and accomplished electrical engineer but had a serious gambling habit," Costas said. "At 16, I began booking bets at Commack High School. I followed sports long enough that I could provide game odds off the top of my head. Then my father found my betting sheets.

"He was so pissed off I feared he was going to swat me," Costas continued. "Instead, he said, 'Robert, I can’t stop. Don’t start.' It was chilling and, since that day, I’ve never been drawn to gambling."

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Costas, now 73, left his omnipresent role with NBC Sports in 2019, and retired from his baseball play-by-play job with Turner Sports after the 2024 American League Division Series.

Costas is believed to be the only person in television history to have won Emmys for sports, news and entertainment.

Ironically, his exit from the business comes amid increasing incursion from legal sports gambling sponsorships of many live events.

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