Bob Costas ends NBC Sports career ‘quietly and happily’

Bob Costas’ 40-year career with NBC Sports is over.

“It’s all settled quietly and happily for all concerned,” Costas told the New York Post in an interview that was published Tuesday.

An NBC representative confirmed with the Post that Costas no longer worked for the network without offering details on how the two sides settled the remaining years on a mutimillion-dollar contract that ran through 2021.

Costas told the newspaper his contract was reconciled “more than fairly” but also did not reveal the final settlement.

He started working for NBC in 1979 and was the face of the network’s Olympics coverage for 11 Games, from 1992 through 2016, including his infamous, on-air bout of pink eye in 2014. Last year, Costas stepped aside for Mike Tirico to take over the hosting duties for the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

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Costas also was no longer as key as he had been for so long in the network’s NFL coverage. Tirico took his place as the host of “Football Night in America” in 2017, and Costas came to a mutual agreement with NBC not to be a part of the coverage of Super Bowl LII last year.

“I have long had ambivalent feelings about football, so at this point, it’s better to leave the hosting to those who are more enthusiastic about it,” he told Sports Business Daily in an email.

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He’s not retiring. Costas will continue to work for the MLB Network covering his favorite sport, baseball, which NBC hasn’t broadcast since 2000. And he has other options as well.

“I have some possibilities,” Costas said, “but I have to decide what I want to do.”

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charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii