BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale has signed a multi-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season, the network announced Monday, Vitale’s 86th birthday.
As part of the extension, ESPN announced the creation of the Dick Vitale Invitational, a new men’s college basketball event that will honor the Hall of Fame broadcaster. The inaugural tournament will feature the Texas Longhorns playing against the Duke Blue Devils at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Nov. 4.
“Dick is the heart of college basketball, and his kindness, generosity and courage are a constant inspiration to us all,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a news release. “Through the creation of the Dick Vitale Invitational, we will celebrate him and his profound impact on the sport. We are also thrilled that Dick will remain a signature voice on ESPN through the 2027-28 season.”
Vitale has called more than 1,000 college basketball games for ESPN since joining the network in 1979, including its first college basketball broadcast that year. Prior to his career at ESPN, “Dickie V” served as a coach at the NBA, NCAA and high school levels. He coached the Detroit Pistons for more than one season in 1978 and four seasons at Division I Detroit Mercy from 1973-77. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Vitale in recent years has battled and overcome numerous bouts with cancer, including vocal cord cancer, melanoma and lymphoma. In December 2024, he announced he was cancer-free and that “Santa Claus came early.”
“ESPN has been such a vital part of my life since December 5, 1979, and I was so thrilled to learn that ESPN Events will have an annual Dick Vitale Invitational,” Vitale said in the release. “Jimmy Pitaro and all my colleagues and friends at ESPN have been so good to me and I am so thankful for all of the prayers and love I have received from them during my cancer battles. ESPN has been family to me and has given me a life that has been even better than my dreams. To the Vitale family, ESPN is ‘Awesome, baby’ with a capital A!”
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