Fansided

Brent Musburger leaving the booth for a career in sports handicapping

By Casey Pazzalia

CHAPEL HILL, NC - NOVEMBER 30: ESPN announcer Brent Musberger greets the fans before a game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wisconsin Badgers at the Dean Smith Center on November 30, 2011 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 60-57. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - NOVEMBER 30: ESPN announcer Brent Musberger greets the fans before a game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wisconsin Badgers at the Dean Smith Center on November 30, 2011 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 60-57. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Longtime announcer Brent Musburger plans to enter sports gambling business after his last broadcast Jan. 31.

You are looking live…at the end of an era.

According to an AP report, on Jan. 31, 2017, Brent Musburger will broadcast his last game. The contest will be an SEC college basketbal matchup between Georgia and Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Ironically, Rupp Arena was the site of one of his most famous calls, the 1985 NCAA National Championship which saw Villanova upset Georgetown.

Musburger, a graduate of the famed Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern, is upbeat about his departure from sports media.

“What a wonderful journey I have traveled with CBS and the Disney company”, Musburger said in a statement released by ESPN. He continued, “A love of sports allows me to live a life of endless pleasure. And make no mistake, I will miss the arenas and stadiums dearly. Most of all, I will miss the folks I have met along the trail.”

The ESPN statement also made it clear that his departure has nothing to do with Musburger’s comments regarding Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon.

For years, Musburger always catered to the sports gambling crowd in his broadcasts. He regularly announced to the world when a team would cover the point spread or when a game would go over the posted total. As a result, it’s no surprise that Brent Musburger plans on heading to Las Vegas for his post-broadcast life. In fact, Musburger announced to to Associated Press that he aims to start a sports handicapping business in Las Vegas.

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The 77 year-old Musburger leaves behind a career that is highlighted by The NFL Today, a show that he hosted and one that paved the way for all current pre-game shows. In addition, Musburger was host or play-by-play for basically every notable sporting event out there. His impressive resume earned him the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting, from Fordham University in 2016.