Great news for college basketball: Hall of Fame announcer Dick Vitale has agreed to a new contract extension with ESPN that will carry through the 2017-18 season.
The agreement will add another season to Vitale’s previous extension, which had been announced in October of 2014. The 2017-18 season will mark the 39th on ESPN for Vitale, who started with the company in its first year (1979-80).
"Dick continues to connect with fans by demonstrating an incredibly successful combination of exuberance for and knowledge of the game he loves," said John Wildhack, ESPN Executive Vice President, Production and Programming. "He is a one-of-a-kind personality and the passion he brings to everything he is involved with continues to have an enormous impact."
Vitale added the following:
"I am so proud to be part of the ESPN team. They have become my second family and have been a vital part of my life. It has been nothing but pure happiness working with the beautiful people at ESPN and I can’t thank them enough as they’ve been responsible for so many of the glorious days I’ve had in my life."
Vitale will continue to call college basketball games across ESPN networks, including regular-season action primarily on ESPN and ESPN2 and the Men’s Final Four for ESPN International.