COSTAS TO CONTINUE WITH NBC SPORTS THROUGH 2012, TO BE NAMED HOST OF "NBC'S SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL," CONFERENCE CALL TODAY at 1 P.M. ET

NEW YORK -- July 26, 2005 -- Bob Costas, the most honored sportscaster of all time with 17 Emmy Awards and a member of the NBC Sports family for a quarter of a century, has extended his contract with NBC Sports through 2012 and will host "NBC's Sunday Night Football" studio show. The announcement will be made on a conference call today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. The new six-year deal will extend Costas' relationship with NBC Sports to 31 years and be commensurate with NBC's exclusive coverage of the Olympic Games through the 2012 London Games. The conference call will be held today at 1 p.m. ET.

"Bob is the most honored and respected sports broadcaster of his generation," said Ebersol. "He has been a member of the NBC Sports family for 25 years. From the moment we concluded our deal with the NFL, it has been my absolute intention for Bob to host network television's first primetime studio show - 'NBC's Sunday Night Football.' It's impossible to imagine this show without him at the helm."

Costas said: "At the conclusion of this deal, I will have been with NBC Sports for literally more than half of my life. To say that my relationship with NBC, with Dick Ebersol and with my colleagues at NBC Sports has been a big part of my life would be the understatement of all time. I am very excited about the upcoming chapters in my career at NBC."

Costas is the preeminent Olympic host of his generation and this new agreement will extend his Olympic experience with NBC Sports to 10 Olympic Games and nine as primetime host. The new deal will add the 2008 Beijing Games, 2010 Vancouver Games and 2012 London Games to his schedule.

The 2006 Torino Winter Games will be Costas' seventh for NBC Sports and his sixth as primetime host. After serving as late night host in 1988 from Seoul, Costas won acclaim and Emmy Awards each year for his work as primetime host from Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City and, most recently, Athens.

Costas has won a record 17 Emmy Awards, which is unprecedented for any sportscaster in history. He has won a record thirteen Emmy Awards as Outstanding Sports Host in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Costas won his first Emmy for play-by-play work on his call of the 1997 World Series; and won Emmys for writing in 1988 and 1995. The latter award was for his moving tribute to the late Mickey Mantle on "NBC Nightly News." In addition to his 16 Sports Emmy Awards, Costas' interview program "Later with Bob Costas" won the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series.

Costas has been honored as Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association a record nine times. He won first in 1985, when at 33-years-old he became the youngest person to win the award. He added awards in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2000. In March 2000, Costas was named "Favorite Sportscaster" at the TV Guide Awards, based on balloting by readers of TV Guide magazine.

Costas, who has the longest tenure of any of NBC's sports announcers, joined NBC in December of 1979 when he was just 27 years old. He has handled a wide array of assignments, including play-by-play, studio hosting and reporting. He first worked on NBC's coverage of Major League Baseball, the NFL and college basketball.

From 1984-92, Costas hosted NBC's NFL pre-game show, "NFL on NBC." He also hosted the pre-game shows for Super Bowls XX, XXIII and XXVII.

From 1982-89, Costas teamed with analyst Tony Kubek on baseball "Game-of-the-Week" telecasts, forming one of baseball's most popular broadcasting teams. During that time, he served as the play-by-play announcer for "Game-of-the-Week" assignments and coverage of the American League Championship Series in 1983, 1985, 1987, and 1989. He also hosted All-Star Game pre-game shows the same years and World Series pre-games in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1988.

Under the umbrella of The Baseball Network, Costas handled play-by-play chores for the 1994 All-Star Game and called 1995 Division Series and ALCS games on NBC. That year, he also called his first World Series on television, teaming with analysts Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker on Games 2, 3 and 6. The trio of Costas, Uecker and Morgan again joined in 1997 for NBC's exclusive coverage of the World Series, marking Costas' first start-to-finish coverage of the Fall Classic. The 1998 ALCS, 1999 NLCS, 1999 World Series and 2000 ALCS showcased the duo of Costas and Morgan. Costas and Morgan also called the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Atlanta.

From 1990-91 through the 1995-96 NBA season, Costas served as the host of "NBA Showtime," NBC Sports' pro basketball pre-game show. In November 1997, he moved from the studio to courtside to work as NBC's top play-by-play man for "NBA on NBC" game telecasts. Costas' call of Michael Jordan's game-winning shot at the buzzer in the deciding Game Six of the 1998 NBA Finals between Chicago and Utah was one of sportscasting's most memorable calls of the modern era. After three seasons as the lead NBA on NBC play-by-play voice - the last two and a half with acclaimed analyst Doug Collins - Costas volunteered to hand the NBA mike back over to the NBA's signature voice, Marv Albert, for the 2000-01 season.

Costas also originated the popular "Costas Coast-to-Coast" nationally syndicated Sunday night sports radio talk show, and served as a regular host of the program through mid-1996. From August 1988 through January 1994, he hosted his own Emmy Award-winning late-night interview television show, "Later with Bob Costas," on NBC. In 1994, Costas expanded his broadcasting duties at NBC. He contributed segments to a variety of NBC News programs, including the primetime newsmagazine, "Dateline." On occasion he still provides special interviews for NBC News' "Today" show.

Costas began his broadcasting career in 1974 at WSYR-TV and Radio in Syracuse, N.Y. He later joined KMOX Radio in St. Louis, working as play-by-play voice of the ABA Spirits of St. Louis. He also called play-by-play for one season of Chicago Bulls road-game telecasts. He then went on to handle regional NFL and NBA assignments for CBS Sports while acting as the radio voice of University of Missouri basketball from 1976 to 1981.

In April 2000, Costas' book, "Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball" made the New York Times Best Seller list. Net proceeds from the book were donated to B.A.T - Baseball Assistance Team, which provides financial assistance to those members of the baseball family in need.

One of television's most gifted interviewers, Costas won acclaim as host of HBO's "On The Record," a weekly show on which Costas interviewed luminaries from the worlds of sports, entertainment and politics. He recently began hosting "CostasNOW," on HBO, a monthly one-hour sports magazine program. Costas has also hosted HBO's "Inside the NFL" since 2002.

"NBC'S SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

"NBC's Sunday Night Football" is the National Football League's primetime network television package. The six-year deal, which includes innovative flexible scheduling, begins with the 2006 season, continues through 2011 and includes Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012 and Pro Bowls in the same years.

For each of the six seasons, NBC kicks off the NFL regular season with a Thursday night primetime game. The first regular season game of the new agreement, NBC's "NFL Kickoff 2006," launches the NFL regular season on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006 in primetime.

The agreement calls for 16 regular season Sunday night games, each season's "NFL Kickoff" Thursday night primetime game, two postseason Wild Card games and three preseason games in primetime. NBC also will broadcast Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 in Tampa, Fla. and XLVI in 2012, and Pro Bowls in the same years.

Under the new agreement, the NFL provides flexible game scheduling over the final seven weeks of the regular season. The flexible game selection, offered for the first time by the NFL, ensures marquee matchups over the final seven weeks of the season when many teams' playoff chances are at stake.

"NBC's Sunday Night Football" will broadcast an NFL pre-game show from 7-8 p.m. ET followed by the kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET. Both the game and pre-game will be aired in high definition.