TV Databases

Below you can find the most frequent national television announcers for each of the four major sports, including both American and Canadian NHL crews. The databases on this page would not be possible without the efforts of the late John Moynihan, Tim Brulia, Jimmy Delach, Jeff Haggar, J.P. Kirby and several others.

The data below is tabulated from the annual pages at The 506 Sports Archive, which come from the original forum threads that spawned these lists. You can discuss changes to these lists at The 506 Sports Discord server.

NFL


MLB


NBA


NHL (American)


NHL (Canadian)


NHL (Combined totals; a single broadcast that airs in both USA and Canada only counts once)


Totals in all four American lists


Totals in all five lists (a single NHL broadcast that airs in USA and Canada only counts once)


This Week (Not Yet Added)

Crossover Announcers That Have Called Multiple Sports
Updated through games of April 13, 2025
Four-sport list sorted by fourth sport, three-sport by third sport, two-sport by second sport.
*Asterisks denote active announcers.

Four Sports (minimum 1 game in each)
  1. Dick Stockton (715 NFL, 615 NBA, 191 MLB, 23 NHL)
  2. Marv Albert (1132 NBA, 297 NFL, 34 NHL, 18 MLB)
  3. *Al Michaels (762 NFL, 262 MLB, 37 NBA, 3 NHL)
  4. Bob Costas (540 MLB, 108 NBA, 69 NFL, 2 NHL)
  5. Bob Wolff (140 MLB, 31 NFL, 6 NBA, 1 NHL)
  6. *Paul Kennedy (7 NFL, 7 MLB, 2 NBA, 1 NHL)
Three Sports (minimum 15 games in each)
  1. *Kenny Albert (517 NHL, 512 NFL, 436 MLB)
  2. Dick Stockton (715 NFL, 615 NBA, 191 MLB, 23 NHL)
  3. Lindsey Nelson (238 NFL, 194 MLB, 93 NBA)
  4. Curt Gowdy (408 MLB, 336 NFL, 78 NBA)
  5. Bob Costas (540 MLB, 108 NBA, 69 NFL)
  6. Jim Gray (362 NBA, 67 NFL, 66 MLB)
  7. Dick Enberg (491 NFL, 68 NBA, 59 MLB)
  8. *Sean McDonough (180 MLB, 145 NHL, 48 NFL)
  9. Joel Meyers (131 MLB, 61 NFL, 40 NBA)
  10. *Al Michaels (762 NFL, 262 MLB, 37 NBA)
  11. Marv Albert (1132 NBA, 297 NFL, 34 NHL, 18 MLB)
  12. Greg Gumbel (437 NFL, 69 NBA, 29 MLB)
  13. Chris Schenkel (157 NFL, 126 NBA, 24 NBA)
  14. *Erin Andrews (270 NFL, 145 MLB, 23 NHL)
  15. Gary Bender (156 NBA, 135 NFL, 18 MLB)
  16. *Ernie Johnson (146 MLB, 27 NBA, 18 NFL)
  17. Sam Ryan (141 MLB, 19 NHL, 15 MLB)
Active announcers with 10+ games in three sports:
*Mike Tirico (313 NBA, 267 NFL, 13 NHL)
*Jaime Maggio (43 NBA, 36 NFL, 12 MLB)
*Adam Amin (100 MLB, 83 NFL, 10 NBA)

Two Sports (minimum 100 games in each)
  1. Dick Stockton (715 NFL, 615 NBA, 191 MLB)
  2. *Kevin Harlan (935 NBA, 526 NFL)
  3. *Kenny Albert (517 NHL, 512 NFL, 436 MLB)
  4. *Joe Buck (638 MLB, 496 NFL)
  5. Gary Thorne (787 NHL, 404 MLB)
  6. Curt Gowdy (408 MLB, 336 NFL)
  7. Marv Albert (1132 NBA, 297 NFL)
  8. *Brian Anderson (304 NBA, 268 MLB)
  9. *Mike Tirico (313 NBA, 267 NFL)
  10. *Al Michaels (762 NFL, 262 MLB)
  11. *Thom Brennaman (364 MLB, 259 NFL)
  12. *Lisa Salters (524 NBA, 231 NFL)
  13. Michele Tafoya (327 NFL, 202 NBA)

  14. Lindsey Nelson (238 NFL, 194 MLB)
  15. *Ian Eagle (465 NFL, 167 NBA)
  16. Sam Rosen (282 NFL, 167 NHL)
  17. *Erin Andrews (270 NFL, 145 MLB)
  18. *Sean McDonough (180 MLB, 145 NHL)
  19. Tom Hammond (158 NFL, 144 NBA)
  20. Howard Cosell (216 NFL, 143 MLB)
  21. Verne Lundquist (200 NFL, 141 NBA)
  22. Gary Bender (156 NBA, 135 NFL)
  23. *Spero Dedes (192 NFL, 134 NBA)
  24. Chris Schenkel (157 NFL, 126 NBA)
  25. *Dan Shulman (461 MLB, 116 NBA)
  26. Bob Costas (540 MLB, 108 NBA)
  27. Vin Scully (276 MLB, 103 NFL)
Active announcers with 50+ games in two sports:
*Adam Amin (100 MLB, 83 NFL)
*Alex Faust (87 MLB, 71 NHL)
*Joe Davis (162 MLB, 61 NFL)

The NBA and NHL are the only pair of leagues not represented on the two-sport list. Here are the seven announcers who have called at least 10 national games in both leagues and an active announcer who is three NBA games away from joining them.
  1. Al Albert (66 NBA, 63 NHL)
  2. Marv Albert (1132 NBA, 34 NHL)
  3. Bud Palmer (51 NHL, 28 NBA)
  4. Dick Stockton (615 NBA, 23 NHL)
  5. *Nabil Karim (15 NBA, 15 NHL)
  6. *Mike Tirico (313 NBA, 13 NHL)
  7. Tim Ryan (72 NHL, 10 NBA)
*Bob Wischusen (144 NHL, 7 NBA)

Finally, we would like to acknowledge that several announcers (including but not limited to Chris Cuthbert, Gord Miller, Don Wittman, Dave Hodge and Steve Armitage) have been part of Canadian Football League coverage for which we do not have quantitative data.

4 comments:

  1. Great work with this site. Was wondering who's the leading play by play voice if you combine totals across sports? From looking at the list Marv Albert, Dick Stockton, Kevin Harlan & Kenny Albert all have over 1000 games. Lists don't include Stockton on MLB which would boost his number and I'd guess Al Michaels would be close? But he doesn't make your top 16s outside NFL. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Through Oct. 14, 2018...
      1. 1711 - Bob Cole (1711 NHL/Canada)
      2. 1416 - Dick Stockton (618 NBA, 605 NFL, 191 MLB, 2 NHL-US)
      3. 1377 - Marv Albert (1045 NBA, 297 NFL, 34 NHL-US, 5 MLB)
      4. 1189 - Gary Thorne (784 NHL, 405 MLB)
      5. 1176 - Jim Hughson (1168 NHL/Canada, 8 NHL/US*)
      6. 1111 - Kevin Harlan (700 NBA, 411 NFL)
      7. 1019 - Danny Gallivan (1019 NHL/Canada)
      8. 1017 - Chris Cuthbert (923 NHL/Canada, 94 NHL/US*)
      9. 1012 - Kenny Albert (397 NFL, 386 MLB, 229 NHL-US)
      10. 964 - Mike Emrick (955 NHL-US, 7 NFL, 1 MLB, 1 NHL/Canada*)
      11. 950 - Al Michaels (647 NFL, 263 MLB, 37 NBA, 3 NHL-US)
      12. 915 - Joe Buck (576 MLB, 339 NFL)

      *This list only counts a given NHL game once if it was shown in both the U.S. and Canada -- that's how Cuthbert only has 923 Canadian NHL games credited here, for example, when the Canadian NHL listing shows him with 933.

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete