Mike Tirico’s Net Worth Grows Each Time He Becomes ‘the Next Man up’

Updated –Sep 17, 2020

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Agreeing to be the guy who follows “the guy” can be a dicey career move. Replacing a well-known and respected figure often means facing unfair comparisons right out of the box. But Mike Tirico, who is hosting coverage of golf’s U.S. Open this week, keeps adding to his net worth by mowing down some daunting challenges.

Tirico has followed Dan Patrick on a radio show, Al Michaels in an NFL broadcast booth, and Bob Costas on Olympics coverage while continuing to prove his value to NBC.

Mike Tirico certainly has the right background

The best way to get into sports broadcasting is to be a retired pro athlete since networks love hiring people with experience in a sport as color commentators. The second-best route into the business might be to attend Syracuse University. The school in upstate New York counts Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Ian Eagle, Dick Stockton, and Andrew Siciliano among its graduates.

Mike Tirico is a member of that distinguished list as well. Tirico earned his degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and moved briskly into the pro ranks as sports director at a Syracuse TV station.

Tirico joined ESPN in 1991, first as a SportsCenter anchor and later as a host on ESPNews. He gained additional visibility by taking on play-by-play responsibilities for college football and basketball beginning in 1997 and the NBA in 2002. He also set the stage for his future role hosting U.S. Open coverage by working golf tournaments for ABC and ESPN from 1997-2015.

When not out in the field, Tirico served as a studio host for ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame shows. He also ventured into radio, taking him back to his college roots, by teaming with Scott Van Pelt to do a radio talk show at ESPN following the departure of Dan Patrick in 2007.

A move to NBC after many years at ESPN

Mike Tirico logged 25 years at ESPN before making the decision to move to NBC Sports in July 2016 in pursuit of higher-profile assignments. He landed one almost immediately by stepping in to contribute to coverage of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

It was believed at that time that Tirico was also being brought on board to work as the play-by-play man for NBC’s Thursday night NFL games. However, the NFL enforced a contract provision requiring the network to use its No. 1 primetime announcer, Al Michaels. As it turned out, Tirico did fill in briefly for Michaels and also picked up golf and Notre Dame football assignments in the fall.

The NFL setback didn’t last long. In the span of four months in early 2017, NBC anointed Tirico to be Bob Costas’ replacement as the primetime host of Olympics coverage beginning with the 2018 Winter Games and as Michaels’ successor on Thursday Night Football.

Mike Tirico’s net worth grows with each new assignment

On top of his football and Olympics responsibilities, Mike Tirico has excelled as the lead host for NBC golf telecasts since arriving from ESPN in 2016. After accounting for various other responsibilities, he’s generally on the air in one capacity or another during much of the year.

Celebrity Net Worth pegs his annual salary at $3 million. In addition, the website calculates Mike Tirico’s net worth at $6 million.