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Spero Dedes (; born February 27, 1979) is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by
CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
, calling the NFL and
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
games, and
TNT Sports TNT Sports is the brand name for sports television channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world that are owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The name originates from the American cable television ...
, calling
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
and
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
games. He has previously worked as the preseason TV voice of the
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...
(2015–2021), a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the
New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
(2011–2014), and the radio play-by-play announcer for the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
(2005–2011).


Early career

Dedes was born in
Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...
. He attended Paramus High School and then graduated from
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
in 2001 and he began his career at WFAN in New York. In 2001 and 2002, Dedes was the radio announcer for the New Jersey Gladiators of the AFL. In 2002, he was tapped as a fill-in announcer for
New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
games on the
YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
. In 2003, Dedes was hired as a studio host and play-by-play man for
NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular se ...
. He hosted '' Hardwood Classics'' and ''The Insiders''. In 2004, Dedes was hired as a voice over for NBA Action and replaced longtime voice over Jim Fagan until he was replaced by
YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
play–by–play announcer Ian Eagle.


National exposure

At 24, Dedes worked the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
for
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
. In 2004, Dedes also served as a fill-in commentator of ''
College Basketball on CBS ''College Basketball on CBS Sports'' (usually referred to on-air as the ''Road to the Final Four'', or simply the ''NCAA on CBS'') is the branding used for broadcasts of men's College basketball, NCAA Division I basketball games that are produ ...
''. Also in 2004, Dedes served as a fill-in commentator for the ''
NFL on FOX The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports and televised on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox broadcast network. ...
''. In 2005, Dedes filled in on the ''
NFL on CBS ''NFL on CBS'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by CBS. It aired from September 30, 1956 to January 23, 1994. The show returned since September 6, 1998. The branding is used for the presentation of the National Foot ...
''. In the same year, Dedes got the biggest break of his career when he was hired as the radio announcer for the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
. From 2006 until 2011, Dedes worked for
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...
, with his duties including studio hosting and play-by-play. In 2015, Dedes went back to his old stomping grounds, returning to NFL Network as a studio host. In 2007, Dedes served as the play-by-play man for the international feed of
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...
by CBS Sports. In 2023 Dedes worked as a Play by play man for select NFL games on Westwood One.


Full-time at CBS and New York Knicks

In December 2009, Dedes joined CBS Sports full-time, calling regular season college basketball and the 2010 NCAA Tournament. For the 2010 NFL season, he was named a full-time announcer of the ''
NFL on CBS ''NFL on CBS'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by CBS. It aired from September 30, 1956 to January 23, 1994. The show returned since September 6, 1998. The branding is used for the presentation of the National Foot ...
''. In 2011, Dedes left the Lakers and became the radio voice of the
New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
. Dedes cited the flexibility to continue his work at CBS Sports as the reason for leaving the Lakers. In addition, that fall, he became the #2 voice of the ''
SEC on CBS ''College Football on CBS Sports'' is the blanket title used for broadcasts of college football games that are produced by CBS Sports, for CBS and CBS Sports Network. CBS first televised regular season college football games in 1950, airing th ...
'' behind
Verne Lundquist Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American former sportscaster known for his long career with CBS Sports. Early life Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before ...
. Dedes has also filled in for Ian Eagle on play-by-play for
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
preseason games on
WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
. From 2017 to 2021 and since 2023, he called NFL games with
Adam Archuleta Adam Jason Archuleta (born November 27, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, and was sel ...
and for the 2021 and 2022 seasons was paired with Jay Feely. Dedes and Archuleta serve as the No. 5 announcing team for the ''NFL on CBS.'' Dedes and Archuleta were on the call for the Snow Bowl where the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
beat the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
on December 10, 2017. He's also the No. 4 play-by-play announcer for the
NBA on TNT The ''NBA on TNT'' is an American presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) games, produced by TNT Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports and later Warner Bros. Discovery Sports). In the United States, the TNT cable network held ...
and continues to work play-by-play on CBS and Turner's coverage of NCAA March Madness pairing with an array of analysts including Steve Smith, Jim Jackson, Len Elmore, Debbie Antonelli and Jim Spanarkel.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dedes, Spero American people of Greek descent American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Fordham University alumni Los Angeles Chargers announcers Los Angeles Lakers announcers NBA broadcasters NFL announcers NFL Network people People from Paramus, New Jersey 1979 births Living people Arena football announcers Paramus High School alumni Olympic Games broadcasters Alliance of American Football announcers WFUV people