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The 2011 season will be Dan Hicks’ 12th as host of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning golf coverage. Working alongside acclaimed analyst Johnny Miller in the 18th hole tower, Hicks anchors NBC’s coverage of the PGA Tour – including THE PLAYERS and the FedEx Cup playoff highlighted by The Tour Championship. Hicks also anchors NBC’s coverage of such elite golf events as the U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, and President’s Cup.
“Dan is a terrific host because of his passion for the game, his sense of golf history and his personality — people enjoy listening to Dan,” said Tom Roy, NBC Sports’ lead golf producer. “That’s important because golf fans are extremely knowledgeable about their sport. You have to have someone credible anchoring the broadcast. It has to be someone passionate and that’s Dan Hicks.
“Dan and Johnny Miller, already acknowledged as the preeminent golf analyst working today, are a team which really connects with golf viewers. Dan is the perfect blend of a talented announcer and an extremely knowledgeable student of the game. He does a nice job drawing some incredible insights out of Johnny.”
Hicks added: “Working with Johnny Miller makes it doubly special. He’s the best analyst in golf and one of the best analysts of all-time for any sport. Every time you tune him in, you learn something about the game. What I want to do is make a connection with our viewers. I can relate to the golf fans at home. If I can set Johnny up to tell them more of his insight into the game they love, I will have done my job.”
Since joining NBC Sports in June 1992 as a play-by-play announcer, Hicks has called a wide variety of sports, ranging from Olympic speed skating and swimming to NFL and NBA games. “Announcers over their careers tend to find their niche – the sport they do best,” Hicks said. “For me, it’s golf. If I could call any big moment in sports, it would be at an event like the U.S. Open. For me this is the ultimate assignment. I love the game that much.
Most recently, Hicks served as the speed skating play-by-play commentator for his eighth Olympic broadcast assignment during NBC’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games. Hicks made his Olympic debut with NBC at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Since then he has played a variety of roles in NBC’s Olympic coverage. Serving as swimming play-by-play commentator for the Beijing Summer Games and Olympic Late Night Show host during NBC’s coverage of the Athens Olympics, a role he debuted at the Salt Lake Games. In 2004, he also served as the play-by-play commentator for swimming. In addition to his Olympic Late Night show hosting duties in Salt Lake City, Hicks was also the play-by-play commentator for speed skating and co-anchored coverage of the Closing Ceremony. In Sydney, he served as the play-by-play voice of NBC’s Olympic swimming and diving coverage for the 2000 Games.
Hicks’ other Olympic assignments at NBC have included handling the lead role for swimming and diving during NBC’s coverage of the 1996 Atlanta Games. His Olympic duties were expanded in March 1998 when he was named host of “The Olympic Show,” an Emmy Award-winning weekly program produced by NBC Sports that aired on CNBC until 2002.
Hicks’ duties for NBC Sports have also included play-by-play for the network’s NBA and NFL coverage and on telecasts of the Ironman Triathlon, the French Open and Visa American Cup Gymnastics.
Prior to joining NBC, Hicks had been a sports anchor at CNN since 1989. He began his professional career in 1984 as a sports anchor/news reporter for KCEE/KWFM radio in Tucson, Arizona. He later moved to KVOA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Tucson, where he served as weekend sports anchor/reporter before joining CNN. During a three-year run at the cable network, Hicks hosted “CNN Sports Tonight” on weekends and both “CNN College Football Preview” and “CNN College Basketball Preview.”
A native of Tucson, Arizona, Hicks graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. He is an 8-handicap golfer, who says, ”If I’m not working or with my family, I’m on the golf course.” Hicks and his wife, Hannah Storm, have three daughters.