Report: Bryant Gumbel hospitalized after 'medical emergency'

Bryant Gumbel, the longtime sportscaster and The Today Show co-host, was hospitalized Monday night, according to a report from TMZ. He reportedly suffered a “medical emergency.”

Gumbel, 77, was taken to a local hospital in New York on Monday, TMZ reported. Details were scarce at the time of publication, but a family member told TMZ he is “okay.”

Gumbel was a co-host of NBC’s Today for 15 years and also famously hosted Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel for HBO. His older brother, Greg, passed away last year.

Bryant Gumbel initially joined Today as its chief sports reporter before succeeding Tom Brokaw as co-host in 1982. He and Katie Couric saw great success as co-hosts beginning in 1991 and became the TV ratings leader in December 1995. At 15 years, Gumbel is the third-longest serving anchor in Today history.

In addition to his work for Today and HBO, Bryant Gumbel hosted NBC Sports’ NFL pregame show from 1975-72 while working other marquee events for NBC. He also hosted primetime coverage of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and covered the PGA Tour in 1990. In 1999, Gumbel left NBC for CBS and eventually became host of The Early Show.

Gumbel began hosting Real Sports in 1995, covering the intersection of sports and society. The program won 32 Sports Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. The final episode aired Dec. 19, 2023, after 29 years on the air.

“Since Day 1 at Real Sports, we’ve consistently tried to look beyond the scoreboard and focus instead on the many societal issues inherent in the world of sports,” Gumbel told Deadline before the show came to an end. “In the process we’ve had the opportunity to tell complex stories about race, gender, class, opportunity and so much more.

“Being able to do so at HBO for almost 3 decades has been very gratifying. I’m proud of the imprint we’ve made, so I’m ready to turn the page. Although goodbyes are never easy, I’ve decided that now’s the time to move on.”

All told, during the course of his career, Gumbel won four Emmys and a Peabody Award for his reporting in Vietnam. He also won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Foreign Affairs Work from the Overseas Press club in September 1984.