Bob Costas is retiring from hosting MLB games after 44 years

Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas will retire from broadcasting Major League Baseball games, according to a report.

Costas, 72, will end his career in live play-by-play after playing his first major league game 44 years ago. The athlete first reported on Thursday. The veteran journalist confirmed the report but said he would discuss his decision at a later date.

Costas has worked for TBS for the past three seasons and his contract with the network's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, expires at the end of the year. The last MLB game he called for the network was the New York Yankees' victory over the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series on October 10.

He will also retire from active calling for the MLB Network, where he has also served as an announcer since 2009. He will continue to work with the station, covering events such as Baseball Hall of Fame announcements. Costas has decided to retire before the start of the 2024 MLB season, sources said The athlete.

The veteran sportscaster began his career at NBC Sports, hosting MLB games for the network in 1982. Costas also reported play-by-play analysis for NBA and NFL games and previously led NBC's Olympic coverage for over two decades is retiring in 2016.

But his voice was synonymous with baseball for decades, as he called three World Series in 1995, 1997 and 1999. In 2018, he received the Ford C. Frick Award, the Baseball Hall of Fame's honor for broadcasters.

Costas left NBC in 2019 after he was reportedly left out of the 2018 Super Bowl broadcast – which he claimed because of his criticism about football's ongoing problems with concussions and player health.