Matt Lauer will be back hosting NBC’s Olympics primetime coverage tonight as Bob Costas recovers from an eye infection. Lauer filled in last night and was back on “Today” this morning (late afternoon Sochi time). “You’re coming out of the bullpen tonight again, my friend,” Costas said to Lauer this morning.
Costas says he’s not feeling sick, but because it’s an eye infection, he can’t do what he’s done for the last 26 years. He’s hosted every Summer Olympics since 1988, and since 2000, has been the host for both the Summer and Winter games on American TV. NBC has the U.S. rights through the 2020 games in Tokyo.
“I’ve done lots of ball games and events feeling much less than my best,” says Costas. “My eyes are so blurry and watery and become so light-sensitive, they’re constantly tearing up. And I can’t be in the studio.”
Lauer joked: “You go in, you just kind of bang it out. I had to go in early, not to practice my lines, but to Lysol your whole dressing room.”