List of Pro Bowl broadcasters

The following is a list of the television networks and announcers who have broadcast the National Football League's Pro Bowl throughout the years.

1950s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)
1951	not televised
1952	NBC	Harry Wismer	Bill Stern
1953	NBC	Bud Foster	Mark Scott
1954	DuMont	Tom Harmon	Red Grange
1955	not televised
1956	not televised
1957	not televised
1958	NBC	Joe Tucker	Van Patrick
1959	NBC	Jim Gibbons	Van Patrick

Notes

• From the 1951 thru the 1964 seasons, the Pro Bowl television rightsholders were the Los Angeles Newspaper Charities, as opposed to the National Football League. Since the 1965 season, the NFL has owned the telecast rights.
• The DuMont Television Network obtained rights to the 1955 game from the Los Angeles Newspaper Charities just one week before the game date. As they had trouble lining up affiliates to cover the game on such short notice, the telecast was cancelled.
• Both NBC and CBS passed on the rights to the 1957 game. ABC apparently considered televising the game, but could not gain enough clearance of affiliates to make a telecast feasible. So for the third straight year, there was no telecast.

1960s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)
1960	NBC	Bob Kelley	Ray Scott
1961	NBC	Lindsey Nelson	Frankie Albert
1962	NBC	Lindsey Nelson	Chuck Thompson
1963	NBC	Chuck Thompson	Ken Coleman
1964	NBC	Chris Schenkel	George Connor
1965	NBC	Ken Coleman	Gordie Soltau
1966	CBS	Jack Drees	Frank Gifford
1967	CBS	Lindsey Nelson	Pat Summerall
1968	CBS	Jack Buck	Tom Brookshier
1969	CBS	Jack Whitaker	Pat Summerall

1970s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Sideline reporter(s)
1970	CBS	Don Criqui	Frank Gifford	Frank Glieber
1971	CBS	Jack Whitaker	Frank Gifford	Bruce Roberts
1972	NBC	Curt Gowdy	Al DeRogatis
1973	CBS	Frank Glieber	Alex Hawkins	Bruce Roberts
1974	NBC	Curt Gowdy	Al DeRogatis
1975	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Alex Karras
1976	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Alex Karras
1977	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Alex Karras
1978	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Don Meredith
1979	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Don Meredith

Notes

• For the first four seasons following the AFL-NFL merger (1970–1973), CBS and NBC alternated coverage of the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl.
• The game was part of ABC's Monday Night Football package from the 1974 through 1986 seasons (the 1975–1987 games). By 1986, ABC's coverage of the Pro Bowl promoted under the Wide World of Sports^[1] anthology series umbrella.

1980s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Sideline reporter(s)
1980	ABC	Al Michaels	Howard Cosell and Fran Tarkenton	Lynn Swann
1981	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Fran Tarkenton	Lynn Swann
1982	ABC	Al Michaels	Fran Tarkenton	Lynn Swann and Russ Francis
1983	ABC	Frank Gifford	Howard Cosell and Fran Tarkenton	Lynn Swann
1984	ABC	Frank Gifford	O. J. Simpson	Lynn Swann
1985	ABC	Frank Gifford	Don Meredith	Lynn Swann
1986	ABC	Frank Gifford	O. J. Simpson and Joe Namath	Tim Brant
1987	ABC	Al Michaels	Frank Gifford	Lynn Swann
1988	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Roy Firestone
1989	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann

Notes

• In 1980 (the first year that the Pro Bowl was in Hawaii), Al Michaels filled-in for Frank Gifford on play-by-play. Gifford was in Austria covering the World Championships of Skiing.
• Although Hawaii does not have an NFL team of its own, the Pro Bowl games played there from 1980–2009 were still subject to the NFL's blackout policies, requiring the game to be blacked out within the state of Hawaii if all seats were not sold out by the specified 72-hour deadline.^[2][3]

1990s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Sideline reporter(s)
1990	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann	Chris Berman
1991	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann	Chris Berman
1992	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann	Chris Berman
1993	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann	Chris Berman
1994	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann	Chris Berman
1995 [4]	ABC	Al Michaels	Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf	Lynn Swann and Lesley Visser
1996	ABC	Al Michaels	Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf	Lynn Swann and Lesley Visser
1997	ABC	Al Michaels	Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf	Lynn Swann and Lesley Visser
1998	ABC	Al Michaels	Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf	Lynn Swann and Lesley Visser
1999	ABC	Al Michaels	Dan Dierdorf and Boomer Esiason	Lesley Visser and Dan Fouts

2000s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Sideline reporter(s)
2000	ABC	Al Michaels	Boomer Esiason	Lesley Visser and Dan Fouts
2001	ABC	Al Michaels	Dan Fouts and Dennis Miller	Eric Dickerson and Melissa Stark
2002	ABC	Al Michaels	Dan Fouts and Dennis Miller	Eric Dickerson and Melissa Stark
2003	ABC	Al Michaels	Dan Fouts	Melissa Stark and Lynn Swann
2004	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire	Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen
2005	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire	Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya
2006	ESPN	Mike Patrick	Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire	Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya
2007	CBS	Greg Gumbel	Phil Simms and Dan Dierdorf	Shannon Sharpe
2008	Fox	Kenny Albert	Daryl Johnston	Tony Siragusa and Brian Baldinger
2009	NBC	Al Michaels	Cris Collinsworth	Andrea Kremer and Tiki Barber

Notes

• In 2003, John Madden declined to be part of the announcing crew due to his aviatophobia and claustrophobia. He was replaced on the telecast by former San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts, whom Madden had replaced on the Monday Night Football crew. This was also the case in 2009, when Cris Collinsworth filled in for Madden on NBC's coverage.
• In 2004–2006, ABC (who by the early 2000s, had been suffering through several years of dismal ratings) sold its rights to the Pro Bowl (which had been part of the Monday Night Football package since 1995) to sister network ESPN. In those years, the ESPN Sunday Night Football crew covered the game. Prior to the game being moved to ESPN, ABC considered moving the game to Monday night.
• Under the eight year television contract beginning in 2006, the network that broadcasts the Super Bowl would also get the Pro Bowl. Typically, CBS and Fox would utilize their "B" or "Number 2" broadcasting crew.
• The 2007 game on CBS was held on the Saturday after Super Bowl XLI because of the Grammy Awards.

2010s

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Sideline reporter(s)
2010	ESPN[5]	Mike Tirico	Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden	Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber
2011	Fox	Thom Brennaman	Brian Billick and Terry Bradshaw	Tony Siragusa and Jay Glazer
2012	NBC[6]	Dan Hicks	Mike Mayock and Doug Flutie	Alex Flanagan and Randy Moss
2013	NBC	Al Michaels	Cris Collinsworth	Michele Tafoya and Doug Flutie
2014	NBC	Al Michaels	Cris Collinsworth	Michele Tafoya and Doug Flutie
2015	ESPN	Mike Tirico	Jon Gruden	Lisa Salters
2016	ESPN	Mike Tirico	Jon Gruden	Lisa Salters

Notes

• The 2010 game was the first time ever that the Pro Bowl was held prior to the championship game. It was held the weekend before Super Bowl XLIV.^[7] NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the move was made after looking at alternatives to strengthen the Pro Bowl.^[8] The game was also moved up in order to prevent a conflict that would have occurred if the game had taken place on February 13 or 14 (CBS would have rights, and based on the 52nd Grammy Awards, would have moved the game to the Saturday, as they did in 2007), with the game facing against the NBA All-Star Game, Winter Olympics, and Daytona 500.
  • CBS gave up the rights to the 2013 game to NBC.^[9]
• ESPN will have the rights to the Pro Bowl for eight years beginning in 2015.^[10]

See also

• List of AFL All-Star Game broadcasters
• List of Playoff Bowl broadcasters

References

1. 1986 ABC NFL Pro Bowl Promo on YouTube
2. "NFL lifts TV blackout as Pro Bowl nears sellout". Archived from the original on February 11, 2009.
3. "Pro Bowl Blackout Date Extended". KHOU-TV. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
4. "1995 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008. External link in |publisher= (help)
5. "40th Season of Monday Night Football". ESPN. April 14, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009.
6. Fang, Ken (January 26, 2012). "NBC Kicks Off Super Bowl Week With the 2012 Pro Bowl From Hawaii". Fang's Bites (blog). Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
7. "Pro Bowl to precede Super Bowl". ESPN. December 30, 2008. Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
8. "2010 Pro Bowl moving to Miami, will be played before Super Bowl". NFL.com. December 30, 2008. Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
9. "Notes: CBS Gives 2013 Pro Bowl to NBC (Also: Olympic Streaming, Music City Bowl)". Sports Media Watch. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
10. Malloy, Tim; Lucas Shaw (September 8, 2011). "'Monday Night Football' to Remain on ESPN Through 2021". TheWrap.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2011.

External links

• The Complete History of the Pro Bowl
• ESPN to televise 2010 Pro Bowl.
• Pro Bowl Numbers Game
• Episode List: AFC/NFC Pro Bowl - TV Tango