Brent Musburger and a crew that includes former Olympians John Naber, Donna de Varona, Bart Conner and Cheryl Miller will be part of ABC's coverage of this summer's Pan American Games from Havana.
The network said Tuesday Musburger will serve as the host for the broadcasts, which will run Aug. 3-18. In all, eight former Olympians will be employed by ABC.
ABC will devote nine telecasts to more than 20 weekend hours of coverage from the competition sites in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. ABC will begin its coverage Aug. 3 with the first game of the U.S. basketball team.
The network will work with the Turner Broadcasting System to provide additional cable coverage. Turner Sports will offer more than 28 hours of prime-time coverage.
Nearly 4,500 athletes from 39 nations will participate in the Pan American Games, an Olympic-like event held every four years among countries from North and Latin America and the Caribbean. The 1987 Pan Am Games were in Indianapolis.
The United States, one of 12 countries to have participated in all of the 10 previous Pan Am Games, is sending delegation of about 1,100, including 700 athletes, to Cuba, the largest contingent of Americans to be in Cuba since the United States broke relations with Fidel Castro's goverment three decades ago.
ABC wanted to purchase the broadcast rights for about $8.5 million, but because of the status of relations between the U.S. and Cuban governments, the U.S. government rejected the proposal.
ABC went to court and lost. The network considered futher appeals, but an agreement was worked out where ABC would not purchase the rights, yet, could go into Cuba and cover the Pan Am Games as a news event.
ABC still has the exclusive network rights and worked out a deal with Turner Broadcasting to provide the additional cable coverage.
Other former Olympians scheduled to assist on the ABC telecasts include Marty Liquori and Willie Smith, will cover track and field.
Naber will host swimming and diving while de Varona and another former Olympian, Cynthia Potter, will be poolside analysts. Conner and Kathy Johnson will cover gymnastics while Miller and former college basketball coach Jim Valvano will handle basketball.
Bob Beattie, who coached the U.S. ski team to four medals in the 1964 Olympics, will be the host for volleyball coverage.
