Brent Musburger agrees to 3-year deal to be Raiders’ radio voice

Las Vegas Review-Journal

6 years ago

Brent Musburger, a renown sportscaster, waits before becoming enshrined in the Las Vegas Bowl Hall of Fame at the 25th Las Vegas Bowl Luncheon for the Houston Cougars and San Diego State Aztecs, at the Hard Rock hotel-casino, Las Vegas, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. (Elizabeth Page Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @EliPagePhoto

Broadcast legend Brent Musburger (second from left) and his Guys in the Desert: Oddsmakers (from left) Vinny Magliulo, Chris Andrews and Jimmy Vaccaro (Courtesy: VSiN)

Brent Musburger announces opening round game lines during a live broadcast covering the NCCA Tournament on the Vegas Stats & Information Network on Sunday, March 12, 2017, at South Point hotel-casino, in Las Vegas. A highlight of the show was watching D Las Vegas owner Derek Stevens bet on all 32 opening round games, totaling $350,000. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Las Vegas, NV – December 17, 2016 – Sam Boyd Stadium: Brent Musburger during the 2016 Las Vegas Bowl (Photo by Gabriel Christus / ESPN Images)

Brent Musburger, a renown sportscaster, expresses his gratefulness for becoming enshrined in the Las Vegas Bowl Hall of Fame at the 25th Las Vegas Bowl Luncheon for the Houston Cougars and San Diego State Aztecs, at the Hard Rock hotel-casino, Las Vegas, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. (Elizabeth Page Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @EliPagePhoto

The iconic voice of Brent Musburger soon will be calling games for the Raiders, the Review-Journal learned Tuesday.

Musburger has agreed to a three-year deal to be the radio play-by-play announcer for the Raiders starting this season, according to two sources familiar with the move. Both were not authorized to discuss the hiring.

Musburger, 79, and the Raiders declined to comment. The sources added that the move could be made official this week.

In 2020, the final year of the deal, the Raiders will relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas.

Greg Papa, the current play-by-play announcer for the Raiders, might not yet know of the switch, according to one of the sources.

Musburger, who writes a weekly sports betting column for the Review-Journal, retired from a 27-year career with ABC Sports and ESPN in January 2017 to help launch VSiN (Vegas Stats and Information Network).

He has been the face of VSiN, which is based at the South Point. VSiN was created by Musburger’s brother Todd Musburger and nephew Brian Musburger.

Brent Musburger will remain in his role as VSiN managing editor and the host of “My Guys in the Desert,” a live broadcast on video at VSiN.com and on satellite radio at SiriusXM 204 that airs Monday through Friday.

Papa has called Raiders games since 1993, taking over for longtime announcer Bill King. Papa is known for his punctuated touchdown call, “TOUCHDOWN, RRRRAID-ERS!”

Musburger hosted “NFL Today” on CBS from 1975 to 1989 and was the halftime host of “Monday Night Football” on ABC from 1990 to 1995. He’s best known for his catchphrase “You are looking live …”

The sportscaster, who was raised in Billings, Montana, has called NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger’s final game with CBS was UNLV’s national basketball championship victory over Duke in 1990.

Musburger has called the Las Vegas Bowl seven times and is a member of the Las Vegas Bowl Hall of Fame.

More Raiders: Follow all of our Raiders coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Raiders and @NFLinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.