Kevin Kugler is an American sportscaster who primarily works in radio broadcasting. Kugler is currently employed by

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...

as its lead college basketball voice as well as one of its Sunday NFL voices, and by the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

as a play-by-play man for college football and college basketball. Kugler is based out of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, where he hosted a daily sports talk show on

KOZN KOZN (1620 AM) is a sports station licensed to Bellevue, Nebraska and serving the Omaha metropolitan area. It is owned by NRG Media, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with studios located at Dodge Street and 50th Avenue in Midtown Omaha, and ...

until 2012 when he left to focus on his other duties. He won the Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year award nine times.

Westwood One

Kugler has worked for Westwood One's sports broadcasting arm since 2004. That year, he began covering the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

for Westwood One and continues to do so to this day. He also was the network's lead voice for NCAA football broadcasts until 2009. Upon the death of

Harry Kalas Harold Norbert Kalas (March 26, 1936 – April 13, 2009) was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, a position he held f ...

, Kugler was promoted to Westwood One's NFL broadcasts to take his place alongside color analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback

Mark Malone Mark M. Malone (born November 22, 1958) is an American former football quarterback in the NFL. Playing career Malone was the nation's most recruited quarterback in 1975 out of El Cajon Valley High School near San Diego, California. He also w ...

. The two have worked together since the 2009 season. Beginning in 2012, Kugler is the primary substitute announcer for Dial Global's Sunday night coverage, replacing

Howard David Howard David is an American sportscaster. Biography Over the years, David has been the radio play-by-play man for several pro sports teams including the NBA's New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics and the NFL's New York Jets and Mi ...

Dave Sims David Sims (born February 14, 1953) is an American sportscaster. He currently is the television play-by-play commentator for the Seattle Mariners. Sims was the 2018, 2019 and 2020 National Sports Media Association's Washington state Sportscaster ...

' substitute for when Sims'

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

broadcasting duties keep him away from the booth. Kugler and Sims switched assignments in 2013, with Kugler taking over Sunday Night Football alongside analyst

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He is a former coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the Gre ...

. In 2016, Kugler substituted for

Kevin Harlan Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and the NBA for TNT. 2022 will be his 38th con ...

on two ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' games during that year's season. In 2008, Kugler replaced Harlan as Westwood One's lead play-by-play voice for the Final Four and has called the games ever since alongside John Thompson and

Bill Raftery William Joseph Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an American basketball analyst and former college basketball coach. High school and college years Raftery attended Saint Cecilia High School in Kearny, New Jersey, where he starred in basketball an ...

Other duties

In 2011, Kugler joined the Big Ten Network as a commentator for football and basketball, among other sports. He also joined former

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

offensive lineman (and Dial Global colleague)

Tony Boselli Don Bosco Anthony Boselli Jr. (born April 17, 1972) is an American former football tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at USC, where he received th ...

as the preseason television broadcast team for the Jaguars. He also calls

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

golf for Dial Global. He served as an anchor and called play-by-play for

Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics was the eighteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from 28 July to 12 August 2012. The preliminary matches and the women's quarterfinal matches were p ...

for

Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...

. In addition to the Big Ten Network, Kugler will also do play-by-play for

Fox College Hoops ''Fox College Hoops'' (also know as ''Fox CBB or Fox Primetime Hoops for games airing in primetime hours'') is the branding used for Fox Sports broadcasts of college basketball for Fox, FS1 and FS2. Formally college basketball telecasts have al ...

. For the 2013-14 college basketball season, Kugler served as the number two play-by-play man for the Big Ten Network and called first round games for the 2014 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament for the BTN alongside Stephen Bardo. Kugler was joined by

Matt Millen Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is a former American football linebacker and executive. Millen played 12 years in the National Football League for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins, ...

on college football Saturdays in the fall of 2015 as part of BTN's lead team covering college football. On June 5, 2018, Kugler served as the play-by-play man for an

MLB on Fox ''MLB on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox MLB'') is an American presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports, the sports division of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), since June 1, 1996. The broadcaster has aired the Worl ...

game between the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

. He would later fill in on Fox's coverage of a Week 8 NFL game between the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

for

Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade Brennaman (born September 12, 1963) is an American television sportscaster. He is the son of former Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman. Broadcasting career After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati's Anderson High Sch ...

, who took the place of

Joe Buck Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an American sportscaster. The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for the network's Nation ...

while the latter called the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Kugler’s role with Fox expanded just before the 2020 season, as he was promoted to regular play-by-play announcer after Brennaman resigned when he made homophobic comments on air during a

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

game. Kugler continued to make appearances on college basketball broadcasts, and fill-in on select MLB games. In December 2022, he got the assignment as the play-by-play announcer at the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

game between the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

on NFL Network.

Personal life

Kugler is a 1994 graduate of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

College of Journalism."Journalism college to honor alumni, leaders during J Days," University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Tuesday, April 14, 2009.
Retrieved December 28, 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kugler, Kevin American people of German descent American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers College baseball announcers in the United States College basketball announcers in the United States Women's college basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers National Football League announcers People from Omaha, Nebraska Living people Golf writers and broadcasters Houston Texans announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Olympic Games broadcasters University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Year of birth missing (living people)