List of College World Series broadcasters

Through 1987, the College World Series was a pure double-elimination event. The format was changed in 1988, when the tournament was divided into two four-team double-elimination brackets, with the survivors of each bracket playing in a single championship game. The single-game championship was designed for network television, with the final game on CBS on Saturday afternoon.

In 2003, the tournament returned entirely to cable television on ESPN, which had been covering all of the other games of the CWS since 1982 (and a partial schedule since 1980). The championship final became a best-of-three series between the two bracket winners, with games scheduled for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evenings. In the results shown here, Score indicates the score of the championship game(s) only.

The following is a list of the American television networks and announcers that have broadcast the College World Series.

By decade

2000s

Year

Network

Play-by-play

Color commentator(s)

Field reporter(s)

2008

ESPN

Mike Patrick

Orel Hershiser

Erin Andrews

2007

ESPN

Mike Patrick

Orel Hershiser

Erin Andrews

2006

ESPN

Mike Patrick

Harold Reynolds

2005

ESPN

Mike Patrick

Harold Reynolds

2004

ESPN

Mike Patrick

Harold Reynolds

Kyle Peterson

2003

ESPN

Mike Patrick

Harold Reynolds

Dave Ryan

2002

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Rick Cerone

2001

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Ray Knight

2000

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Jerry Kindall

1990s

Year

Network

Play-by-play

Color commentator(s)

1999

CBS

Sean McDonough

Joe Carter

1998

CBS

Sean McDonough

Fred Lynn

1997

CBS

Sean McDonough

Fred Lynn

1996

CBS

Sean McDonough

Steve Garvey

1995

CBS

Sean McDonough

Jeff Torborg

1994

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Jeff Torborg

1993

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Jim Kaat

1992

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Jim Kaat

1991

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Jim Kaat

1990

CBS

Greg Gumbel

Jim Kaat

1980s

Year

Network

Play-by-play

Color commentator(s)

1989

CBS

Brent Musburger

Joe Morgan

1988

CBS

Brent Musburger

Rick Monday

Basic television broadcaster overview

  • 1980-1981 - ESPN (selected games of the CWS)
  • 1982-1987 - ESPN (entire CWS)
  • 1988-1990 - CBS (championship game); ESPN (remainder of CWS)
  • 1991-2002 - CBS (championship game plus one game on first Saturday); ESPN (remainder of CWS)
  • 2003-present - ESPN (entire CWS)

Note: ESPN aired some of these games on ESPN2