Brent Musburger
Updated: January 27, 2026
Brent Musburger was born in Portland, Oregon, on May 26, 1939, and raised in Billings, Montana, where his lifelong passion for sports began. He is a Hall of Fame?level American sportscaster best known for his decades on CBS and later ABC/ESPN, and today remains active as a broadcaster and sports-betting analyst based in Las Vegas.
Early life and journalism
Musburger grew up in Billings after his family moved there when he was a small child, selling programs at Billings Mustangs games and playing Little League; his father helped start the local Little League program. As a youth he was a friend of future Major League pitcher Dave McNally, and he later attended Shattuck Military Academy in Minnesota before studying journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. In the 1950s he worked as an umpire in minor league baseball, then began his professional media career as a sportswriter and columnist for the Chicago American newspaper.
Rise at CBS Sports
Musburger moved from print into television in Chicago, becoming sports director at WBBM-TV in 1968 and starting a 22-year association with CBS. He first did NFL play-by-play and local news in Chicago and Los Angeles, then became one of CBS's primary national voices across NFL, NBA, college football and basketball, tennis, golf, horse racing, and other events, including hosting and studio roles. From 1975 to 1989 he was the studio host of "The NFL Today," helping reinvent the modern NFL pregame show, and he became closely associated with NCAA men's basketball, including the Final Four, where his use of "March Madness" helped popularize the term for the tournament. He also called MLB on CBS Radio and hosted or called events like the U.S. Open and The Masters during his CBS tenure. [vsin](https://vsin.com/hosts/brent-musburger/)
On April 1, 1990, CBS abruptly ended his contract; his final CBS assignment was play-by-play of the 1990 NCAA men's basketball championship game the next night, after which he signed off by thanking viewers and colleagues and saying he'd "see you down the road."
ABC/ESPN years
Musburger joined ABC in 1990, just as ABC's sports operations were integrating with ESPN, beginning a 27-year run with those networks. He hosted the "Monday Night Football" studio show, did college football play-by-play (including Bowl Championship Series title games and later the SEC Network), called NBA games on ESPN and ABC, and worked Major League Baseball, the Indianapolis 500, U.S. Open and British Open golf, the Belmont Stakes, soccer World Cups, and other major events. His "You are looking live?" game intros and down-home style?frequently calling viewers "folks" or "partner"?became trademarks that tied his voice to many of the late-20th- and early-21st-century's biggest U.S. sports moments.
In January 2017 Musburger announced he was leaving ABC/ESPN after 27 years; his final ESPN telecast was a college basketball game at Rupp Arena on January 31, 2017. He described the move as a chance to shift from traditional play-by-play into a new family sports-betting venture.
VSiN and the Raiders
Immediately after leaving ESPN, Musburger helped his family launch the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN), a multichannel sports-betting information network broadcasting from a studio at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas. He serves as VSiN's managing editor and on-air host, including the flagship program "My Guys in the Desert," which built on his long-time, winking references to bookmakers during broadcasts.
In July 2018 he returned to live play-by-play as the radio voice of the Raiders (then Oakland, later Las Vegas), calling their games through the 2021 or 2022 season depending on source, including the team's first seasons after the move to Las Vegas. In 2021 the Musburger family sold VSiN to DraftKings, remaining as executives and on-air talent, and in 2024 DraftKings sold VSiN back to the Musburgers, keeping Brent at the center of the network as of 2026.
Personal life and Montana ties
Musburger is widely described as a Billings, Montana native in spirit, and he is a member of the Montana Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame as well as honored by groups such as the Montana Football Hall of Fame and Greater Montana Foundation. He has long emphasized that the games and athletes?not the announcer?are what matter, telling Sports Illustrated and later interviewers that he sees himself as the messenger whose job is to enhance, not overshadow, the event. He and his wife Arlene have been married for more than five decades; recent biographical notes indicate that he now splits time between homes in Las Vegas and other locations, remaining active on VSiN and in speaking engagements rather than fully retiring.
Host of:
- 1973-1975: NFL on CBS Play-by-Play
- 1975-1980: NBA on CBS Lead Play-by-Play
- 1975-1989: NFL on CBS Studio Host
- 1981-1984: NCAA Basketball on CBS Studio Host
- 1985-1990: NCAA Basketball on CBS Lead Play-by-Play
- 1990-1996: Monday Night Football Studio Host
- 1990-present: NCAA Football on ABC Play-by-Play
- 1994-1995: MLB on ABC #2 Play-by-Play
- 1998, 2006: World Cup Studio Host
- 2002-present: NBA on ESPN and NBA on ABC Play-by-Play
- 2005-present: Nascar on ABC; Indianapolis 500 studio host
- 2006-present: Saturday Night Football Play-by-Play
- 2007-present: Rose Bowl Play-by-Play
Thank you to:
Wikipedia
Updated: January 27, 2026
