Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons in Emotional Ceremony

The Class of 2024: Hubie Brown, Charlie Carlucci, Jim Delaney, Phil Garvin, Steve Gorsuch, Bryant Gumbel, Andrea Kremer; Mark Lazarus, Chris Mortensen, and Tommy Roy

The 17th class of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame was honored on Tuesday night in an unforgettable, emotional ceremony at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. Ten industry legends from in front of and behind the camera were inducted during the ceremony, which was hosted by Mary Carillo, a Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer herself. All table sales from the event were once again donated to the Sports Broadcasting Fund, which supports industry members in times of need.

This year’s inductees comprised longtime NBA analyst Hubie Brown; graphics-production guru Charlie Carlucci; former Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney; late Mobile TV Group founder Phil Garvin; the late Steve Gorsuch, who helped take U.S. Open and golf coverage into the HDTV era; Bryant Gumbel, one of the most respected hosts and broadcasters ever; fearless and legendary reporter Andrea Kremer; Mark Lazarus, former chairman of the NBCUniversal Media Group; the late Chris Mortensen, who transformed the nature of NFL reporting; and NBC Sports producer and golf-production visionary Tommy Roy.

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Bryant Gumbel, Journalism Icon Who Got ‘Real’ About Sports  

The night kicked off with a Hall of Famer known as much for his works in sports as his work beyond the playing field. Over a television career that spanned more than half a century, Bryant Gumbel became one of television’s most visible and accomplished broadcasters. After beginning his television career in 1972 at KNBC Los Angeles, he moved on to NBC Sports (1975-1982), where he hosted four Super Bowls, seven World Series, and five NCAA Basketball Championships. In 1982, Gumbel was named host of NBC’s flagship Today program and went on to host that show for 15 years, longer than anyone in the program’s history.

However, Gumbel is most known within sports for his work on HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel from 1995 until it ended in 2023. The monthly magazine-style program raised the bar for sports journalism and won more than 30 Sports Emmy Awards. Carillo, a friend and longtime Real Sports colleague of Gumbel accepted on his behalf at the ceremony.

Jim Delany, Daring Leader and Architect of Modern College Athletics

Jim Delany’s storied career as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference spanned 31 transformative years. He retired in January 2020, having become one of the most influential figures in the history of collegiate athletics. From groundbreaking media ventures to expanding the conference’s footprint, his legacy is defined by bold initiatives, strategic foresight, and a steadfast commitment to the values of collegiate sports. During his 41-year tenure, Delany led negotiations on behalf of the Big Ten, NCAA, and CFP with all major television networks, resulting in rights fees totaling more than $30 billion.

Delany’s crowning achievement in sports broadcasting is obvious: the 2007 launch — and continued success — of the Big Ten Network (BTN), the first successful dedicated television network for a collegiate conference. More than a financial success, BTN redefined how conferences could control their brand and showcase their institutions.

Former Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany

Steve Gorsuch, Tech Master and Mentor to Many 

For more than 40 years, Steve Gorsuch transformed coverage of golf events for CBS Sports as well as US Open tennis, where he would spend 15 years taking that event to the next level from a production and operations standpoint. His career ranged from being a great camera operator (capturing Secretariat winning the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths and Dwight Clark’s famous “The Catch”), to being a technical director, to managing the operations side for some of the biggest events in the country. His ability to handle both technical directing and management for an event blazed a trail for future sports-production professionals.

Gorsuch, who died in March at the age of 74, redefined both tennis and golf operations, oversaw the transition from SD to HD, dabbled in 3D, and was known for having a great understanding not only of how technology works but of people as well.

The HOF statue for the late Steve Gorsuch was accepted by his children Ryan, Becca, and Scott

Hubie Brown, the X’s and O’s Master of Professional Basketball

Longevity in the sports-broadcasting industry can be hard to achieve, but a select few have withstood the test of time. One of those iron horses is NBA on ESPN analyst Hubie Brown, a beloved member of the basketball fraternity who has experienced nearly everything you can in the game: a state champion at the high school level and four-year standout at Niagara University as a player, a coach for more than four decades, and an analyst honored by induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

One of the greatest NBA analysts of all time, he has been involved with the NBA as either a coach or broadcaster for 50 years and will call it a career following the 2024-25 NBA season. He called the NBA Final for ABC in 2005 and 2006 and then for ESPN radio from 2007 to ’19. Including television and radio across networks, Brown has called a record 18 NBA Finals.

ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus accepted on behalf of ESPN’s Hubie Brown

Charlie Carlucci: Graphics Guru, Mentor, and Comedian 

Charlie Carlucci spent 36 years redefining the role of graphics operator for CBS Sports. After beginning with the network in 1980, he worked across nearly every property at CBS Sports — including the Super Bowl, Masters, Final Four, and US Open — and did so at the highest levels. He changed the very nature of graphics creation, and his graphics work helped shape the live production of six Super Bowls, 35 Masters Tournaments, 25 PGA Championships, 34 March Madness tournaments, and much more.

Although fonts, statistics, colors, and images were at the core of what he did, the key to his success was his ability to be a good listener and a strong leader. He was known as for incredible sports knowledge, his incomparable comedic talents and sense of humor, his ability to continuously adapt to and integrate new technology, and a personality that created calm in the most stressful situations.

Revered graphics operator Charlie Carlucci

Mark Lazarus, a Paragon of Sports-Media Excellence

Mark Lazarus’ career in sports media has spanned more than three decades, during which he has helped shepherd the industry through the changing media landscape and has been a key player in landmark sports-rights deals as president of sports at two major media companies: Turner Broadcasting and NBCUniversal. He served as chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group until last month, when it was announced that he will take over as CEO of NBCU’s new “SpinCo” company, primarily comprising the cable networks.

Under Lazarus’s leadership, NBCU Media Group forged new deals with the Olympics, NBA, NFL, PGA TOUR, Big 10, NASCAR, and the Premier League, among many other partnerships. He has overseen seven Olympics, including this summer’s landmark Paris Games, which garnered record-breaking engagement and cross-platform viewership.

Mark Lazarus, former Chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group and Prospective CEO, SpinCo

Phil Garvin, Live-Production Innovator and Regional-Sports–Production Pioneer

Simply put, the live-sports-production business would not exist in its current form if not for Philip Garvin. From spearheading the first-ever live HD sports broadcasts to creating innovative production models for the regional-sports market and so much more, he had an indelible impact on the sports-broadcasting industry during five decades in the business.

Almost 50 years ago, Garvin launched Colorado Studios, providing a foundation that would lead to the launch of Mobile TV Group in 1994. MTVG would become the go-to provider of mobile units for RSN productions across the country, while he built a reputation as one of most widely respected figures in the entire sports-broadcasting industry. Garvin, who died in August at the age of 76, played a pivotal role in the HD revolution of the early 2000s as co-founder of HDNet and spearheaded the early days of live 4K and HDR sports productions more than a decade later. On the regional side, Garvin and the team at MTVG created the “dual-feed” production model in the 1990s and the Cloud Control production model in the 2020s. Both provided regional sports networks with game-changing new efficiencies without sacrificing production quality.

Mobile TV Group CEO Nick Garvin accepted the HOF statue on behalf of his late father Philip Garvin.

Tommy Roy, a Passion for Sports and Storytelling 

Tommy Roy started his career at NBC in 1981 as a production assistant and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming executive producer of NBC Sports for 12 years. A winner of 29 Emmy Awards, he was the original producer of the iconic NBA on NBC, which included coverage of Michael Jordan and the Bulls’ first three championships. Roy has worked on seven Super Bowls, serving as executive producer on three, including the game telecast for Super Bowl XXXII when John Elway and the Denver Broncos finally won the title. At the Olympics, he produced the coverage of basketball’s original Dream Team and has produced the swimming coverage of every medal-winning race by Michael Phelps, highlighted by his incredible eight gold medals at the Beijing Games.

Today, Roy is best-known for his work in golf, where he has produced 25 U.S. Opens, eight British Opens, every Ryder Cup since 1993, and scores of PGA TOUR and LPGA events. As executive producer, he oversaw coverage of tennis’s French Open and Wimbledon; horseracing’s Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont; and NASCAR’s Daytona 500.

Longtime NBC Sports producer Tommy Roy

Chris Mortensen, The Ultimate NFL Insider

Here’s a plain fact: nobody who knew Chris Mortensen will ever forget him. Known to many as Mort, he was a journalist who joined ESPN as an NFL Insider in 1991 and built a reputation for his knowledge, integrity, and fairness. Players, owners, agents, and everybody at ESPN loved him, trusted him. And his impact lives on.

When Mortensen, who died in March at the age of 72, joined ESPN as a regular contributor to the network’s NFL shows and SportsCenter, he quickly became known as one of the ultimate NFL insiders, capable of getting the type of breaking news that made ESPN a must-watch for not only NFL hardcore fans but also those who worked for NFL teams, whether in the front office or on the field. In 2016, he received the Pro Football Writers of America’s Dick McCann Award and was honored during the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremony that year.

The award for ESPN Insider Chris Mortensen was accepted by his son Alex

Andrea Kremer, The Journalist Who Spoke Truth to Power

Andrea Kremer is one of the most accomplished and widely respected journalists in the history of sports media. A recipient of multiple Emmys and a Peabody, she is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame. Acclaimed for her long-form journalism and storytelling prowess, Kremer has held prestigious roles at NFL Network, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, CBS Sports Network, NBC Sports, and ESPN, among others.

She has worked on more than 30 Super Bowls, NBA Finals, Summer and Winter Olympic Games, MLB All-Star Games and League Championship Series, NCAA football bowl games, NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and Finals, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and the PGA Championship. Named one of the greatest female sportscasters of all time, Kremer made history as NFL Films’ first female producer; ESPN’s first female correspondent; and the first full-time female NFL game analyst, for Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football.

Iconic reporter Andrea Kremer’s closed out an unforgettable night

P.J. Bednarski, Brandon Costa, Ken Kerschbaumer, and Kristian Hernandez contributed to this report.