Dan Hicks dies at 64: NBC Sports announcer and husband of Hannah Storm

Dan Hicks, the NBC Sports announcer who called Olympic swimming, Notre Dame football, and some of the biggest moments in American sports broadcasting, has died at 64, Entertainment Weekly reported. His wife, fellow broadcaster Hannah Storm, said his loss is immeasurable, USA Today reported.

Bleacher Report confirmed that Hicks died at 64 and that NBC Sports released a statement on his passing. DailyVoice.com described Hicks as an NBC broadcaster who called many of sports’ biggest moments. SwimSwam noted that Hicks was a legendary sportscaster and Olympic swimming commentator whose voice was synonymous with the pool deck at multiple Summer Games. USA Today reported that Storm, who is also a sportscaster, posted that his loss is immeasurable, and the couple had been married since 1996. Hicks was a constant presence on NBC’s sports coverage for decades, and his death marks the end of an era for the network’s broadcasting team.

A career calling the biggest moments

Hicks was best known for his work as the play-by-play voice for NBC’s Olympic swimming coverage, where he called some of the most dramatic races in American sports history. He was also the voice of Notre Dame football on NBC, a role that put him in living rooms across the country every Saturday during college football season. SwimSwam described him as a legendary Olympic swimming commentator, and his work in that sport earned him a reputation as one of the best play-by-play announcers in the business. He had a gift for conveying the tension of a close race without overwhelming the moment, and his calls became part of the soundtrack of American sports.

The South Bend Tribune reported that NBC had tapped Hicks to replace Jac Collinsworth as the voice of Notre Dame football, a assignment that spoke to the network’s confidence in his ability to carry a high-profile broadcast. Hicks also worked NFL games for NBC and contributed to the network’s golf coverage, making him one of the most versatile announcers on the NBC Sports roster. His range across sports was unusual in an era when many announcers specialize in one sport, and it made him invaluable to the network’s programming. The Houston Chronicle noted that Storm, his wife, had called NFL play-by-play herself, making them one of the most prominent broadcasting couples in sports media.

Hannah Storm’s tribute

USA Today reported that Storm posted about Hicks’ death, saying that his loss is immeasurable. The couple had been married for nearly 30 years and were both fixtures at NBC Sports. Storm is a pioneering sportscaster in her own right, having been one of the first women to host ESPN’s SportsCenter and later becoming a anchor and correspondent for NBC Sports and CBS News. Their partnership was both personal and professional, and Storm’s tribute carried the weight of a shared life in broadcasting. The outpouring of condolences from colleagues and fans reflected the respect Hicks earned over a career that spanned multiple Olympics, NFL seasons, and college football Saturdays.

Bleacher Report noted that NBC Sports released a statement acknowledging Hicks’ passing, and the network’s response underscored his importance to the broadcasting team. Entertainment Weekly described Hicks as a legendary NBC Sports announcer, and the word legendary is not hyperbole in this case. Hicks called events that millions of Americans watched, and his voice was associated with some of the most memorable moments in recent sports history. The loss of a broadcaster at 64 is early by any standard, and the suddenness of his death has left the sports media community reeling.

The legacy

Hicks came up in an era when broadcasters were expected to be versatile, and his career reflected that expectation. He could call a swimming race with the precision of a specialist and then transition to a football game with the authority of a generalist, and few announcers on any network could do both at his level. The generation of sportscasters coming up now tends to specialize early, focusing on one sport or one type of broadcast, and Hicks represented a older model that valued range over depth. Whether that model survives is an open question, but the outpouring of respect for Hicks after his death suggests that audiences still value a broadcaster who can handle whatever the network assigns.

The impact of Hicks’ death extends beyond NBC. He was part of a generation of sportscasters who came of age when broadcast television was the dominant medium for sports, and that generation is aging out of the business. The voices that defined American sports in the 1990s and 2000s are being replaced by a younger cohort with different styles and different platforms, and the transition is not always smooth. Hicks was a bridge between the old school and the new, comfortable on traditional broadcasts but adaptable enough to work in a changing media landscape. His death at 64 deprives the business of one of the last links to that era, and the colleagues who have spoken about him since his passing have made clear that his absence will be felt.

What I think

Hicks was the kind of broadcaster who never got enough credit because he made it look easy. Calling Olympic swimming requires a specific skill set: you have to convey the drama of a race that lasts less than two minutes, identify the swimmers correctly in a chaotic pool, and capture the stakes without overselling the moment. Hicks did all of that better than anyone, and his Notre Dame football work showed he could carry a different kind of pressure entirely. The fact that NBC trusted him with both assignments tells you what they thought of him. Sixty-four is too young, and the tributes from colleagues suggest he was as well liked off the air as he was respected on it. Storm’s words about his loss being immeasurable are the kind of thing you say when you lose not just a colleague but a partner, and the broadcasting world is smaller without him.