Bob Costas Shares His Thoughts on Snoop Dogg

Bob Costas was widely recognized for his serious and in-depth coverage during his tenure as the anchor for NBC’s Olympics broadcasts. It’s hard to picture Costas, who departed NBC in 2019, paired with Snoop Dogg for this year’s Paris Games coverage. However, Costas insists he would have been open to the idea had NBC proposed it during his time with the network.

Costas acknowledges the importance of NBC attracting new audiences and expanding the Olympics’ appeal in the age of social media and streaming. This understanding extends to what Snoop Dogg adds to the broadcast.

In a conversation on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday, Costas shared that he had the chance to meet the hip-hop legend during a trip to Paris earlier in the Olympics. Accompanied by Al Michaels, Costas found Snoop Dogg to be very “personable” and “knowledgeable.”

“He’s high-spirited about it, I get it. I get what the appeal is,” Costas told Patrick. “And if I were hosting, as long as it didn’t encroach upon in any way what you’re there for, then it’s just a side dish. It’s a large side dish in this case, but it’s just a side dish.”

Costas acknowledged that by the end of his time with NBC, he likely lacked the influence to reject such a proposal, but he would have embraced the newer facets of sports broadcasts.

“I think the tide was flowing in a direction that would’ve just gobbled me up and carried me out to sea,” Costas joked.

Snoop Dogg has been a popular addition to the primetime recap broadcasts for NBC this year, with viewership frequently surpassing 30 million. While Costas applauded the network’s use of social media and historical photos to tell the stories of younger athletes, it’s clear that Snoop Dogg brings name recognition and entertainment value as an Olympics ambassador for older audiences.

Source: The Dan Patrick Show, Awful Announcing