NEW YORK — John Saunders, a widely known ESPN and ABC sportscaster who guided viewers through many premier sporting events over the last 30 years, died Wednesday, ESPN and his family said. He was 61.
The family, in a statement, said he had been ill for the past few days but the cause of death was not yet known.
Mr. Saunders was a familiar presence on fall Saturdays as the host of ABC’s studio coverage of college football and the ESPN show “College Football Live.’’ He anchored coverage of the College Football Playoff national championship game and hosted the postgame trophy presentation.
On Sundays, he was the host of “The Sports Reporters,’’ an ESPN roundtable of journalists that largely resisted the shouting and argumentative style of shock jocks in favor of measured, one-at-a-time takes on sports issues, personalities, and events.
There was no trace of bombast in his presentation. As other sports broadcasters yelled progressively louder, Mr. Saunders was calm, steady, and good-natured — “a voice of reason in our often unreasonable discourse,’’ as Mike Greenberg, an ESPN host, said on Twitter.
Since starting at ESPN in 1986, Mr. Saunders had been at the center of the network’s biggest franchises. He hosted the channel’s studio coverage of college basketball and had called play-by-play of college basketball since 1990.
He also hosted “Baseball Tonight’’ from 1990 to 1993.
Mr. Saunders was frequently involved in ESPN’s coverage of major games. He hosted the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs broadcasts from 1993 to 2004, “SportsCenter’’ coverage of the NCAA basketball Final Four from 1991 to 1993, the World Series broadcasts from 1990 to 1992, and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game broadcasts from 1990 to 1992.
He was a founding member of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, named for Jim Valvano, a former North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN broadcaster who died of cancer in 1993.
‘‘He was as close to Jimmy V as anybody at ESPN,’’ said Dick Vitale, who has worked at ESPN for decades with Mr. Saunders and considered him one of his closest friends.
Mr. Saunders has been the master of ceremonies at Vitale’s gala and V Foundation fundraiser in Sarasota, Fla., in 10 of 11 years the event has been held, said the longtime college basketball analyst.
“John was an extraordinary talent, and his friendly, informative style has been a warm welcome to sports fans for decades,’’ John Skipper, the president of ESPN, said in a statement. “His wide range of accomplishments across numerous sports and championship events is among the most impressive this industry has ever seen.’’
Mr. Saunders was born on Feb. 2, 1955, in Ajax, Ontario. He was an all-star defenseman in junior league hockey and played at Western Michigan University from 1974 to 1976 before transferring to Ryerson Polytechnical in Toronto.
He had broadcast jobs in Ajax and Toronto before moving to Baltimore, where he anchored daily sports reports. He was hired by ESPN in 1986 to anchor “SportsCenter.’’
On “SportsCenter’’ Wednesday, Hannah Storm struggled to report the news of Mr. Saunders’ death, calling him “our generous and talented and beloved colleague.’’
Mr. Saunders leaves his wife, Wanda, and two daughters, Aleah and Jenna.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
