Longtime NBC Sports broadcaster Dan Hicks dies at 64

Dan Hicks, the NBC Sports announcer known for his commentary on golf, Olympic swimming and Notre Dame football over a 35-year career, has died at the age of 64.

Hicks died late Wednesday in Connecticut of an acute illness, according to his wife Hannah Storm.

“Our family is heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected passing of Dan,” Storm said in a statement. “He was a devoted husband of over 30 years, loving father to our three daughters, and cherished friend to so many. His loss is immeasurable.

“Dan was truly one of a kind and, quite simply, the person everyone wanted to be around. When he walked into a room, he brought the energy, the laughter and the people together. He was endlessly kind, thoughtful and funny, and he made everyone feel like they mattered.”

Hicks joined NBC in 1992 after three years at CNN. His best-known role was as lead announcer for golf, a sport he loved above all the others he covered. He also announced swimming and skiing at the Olympics, as well as Notre Dame football.

“I’m incredibly lucky to stay at one place this long. It takes a lot of things going your way as far as NBC continuing to have the properties that I’ve been a part of through the years,” he said during an Associated Press interview in September. “So lots of variables, lots of things that can happen in your career. But I think I appreciate it more and more the longer it’s been.”

Hicks was on the call for 27 of Tiger Woods’ tournament victories, three of which came at the U.S. Open. He served as a tower announcer from 1995-99 before becoming the main voice of NBC’s golf coverage in 2000.

His résumé also included 27 U.S. Opens, 23 U.S. Women’s Opens, the Ryder Cup, the PGA Tour and the British Open. Hicks spent this, his seventh season, calling Notre Dame games.

His first stint in the role ran from 2013-16, and he returned to it in 2024. At the Olympics, Hicks called swimming eight times alongside Rowdy Gaines.

The pair chronicled Michael Phelps’ eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games and Katie Ledecky’s 14 medals across four Olympics, from 2012 to 2024. Hicks credited Phelps for swimming’s popularity beyond once every year years.

“Dan Hicks was an extraordinary colleague, friend and person,” NBC Sports’ Rick Cordella, Sam Flood and Molly Solomon said in a statement. “He was an exceptional storyteller and caller of games and events who elevated some of the biggest moments in sports history.

“From Olympic swimming and skiing to Notre Dame Football, numerous other high-profile events and especially as the signature voice of our golf coverage for the last 26 years, Dan’s blend of knowledge style, enthusiasm and humor informed and entertained fans for decades.

“But far beyond his on-air excellence, Dan was a better person who welcomed teammates with a smile, a joke, or a word of encouragement, sometimes all three in the same sentence.”

Hicks is survived by Storm and their three daughters Hannah, Ellery and Riley.