NBC plans to use Mike Tirico as the lead play-by-play announcer when it begins broadcasting games in the 25-26 NBA season. Tirico has been broadcasting NBA games on television and radio for several years while at ESPN. Tirico is also the lead play-by-play announcer for NBC’s NFL broadcasts.
When NBC broadcast the NBA in the 1990s, the primary game broadcasters were Marv Albert and Bob Costas.
NBC plans to use the same formula they’ve enjoyed for years with Sunday Night Football for Sunday Night Basketball. They’ll have an hour-long pregame show and try to show the best matchups possible.
“We want to have a fantastic studio show and studio talent behind what we see as the game of the week, and we’re going to work closely with the NBA to leverage the team appearances to create the best matchups possible at that point in the season,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said. “We’ve had a lot of success with Sunday Football. I’d like to say someone had a eureka moment when they came up with the idea for Sunday Night Basketball, but I think it made sense for NBC Sports to want to build this franchise outside of football season. There’s definitely a window open (after the NFL season). We’ve pitched it to the NBA, and it’s a concept that makes sense.”
The first Sunday Night Basketball game will most likely be played on February 15, 2026.
“The best matchup we can get is the one we’re going to try to get that night,” Cordella said. “So the NBA Finals rematch is going to be the Sunday night matchup that we want. The big markets, the big viewership. We’re going to have a research team that’s going to look at all of that. We have the flexibility to move the game within a reasonable range within the NBA schedule. We’ve seen Turner move games before, and we’re going to work closely with the NBA. And then it’s about putting the production value up against that. We want to show our production capabilities. We’re going to have an ‘A’ team on the game in terms of announcers and analysts, and we’re going to have a great studio show.”
