Bruce McAvaney

Bruce William McAvaney (born 22 June 1953) is an Australian sports broadcaster with the Seven Network. McAvaney has presented high-profile events including the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, Test cricket and both Winter and Summer Olympics, as well as annual special events such as the Brownlow Medal. McAvaney is well known for his commentary of AFL matches as well as covering every Summer Olympic Games from the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympic Games to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. After attending Woodville High School he spent five years as a Telecom clerk (renamed Telstra after his departure). Then in 1976 during a sickie, McAvaney travelled to Kilmore, Victoria, to bet on some races. There, he met Kevin Hillier, an Adelaide race caller, who suggested McAvaney help him out back in Adelaide. and McAvaney was chosen to host the Adelaide end of the telecast for the station.

From 1981 until 1983, McAvaney was the chief sports presenter for Seven News in Adelaide. He was also the lead commentator for Seven's telecasts of the South Australian National Football League competition, calling the 1983 SANFL Grand Final with former player Robert Oatey. He also hosted the league's Magarey Medal telecasts.

In late 1983, he moved to Melbourne and joined Ten Melbourne to read sport news.

In an interview with the Herald Sun, McAvaney announced informally that he would no longer commentate Men's games at the Australian Open so that he could optimise his health over summer and for other sport events. McAvaney had been calling the Australian Open since 1990 and been chief caller alongside Jim Courier since 2005. 2017 was only the second time he had missed the tournament, attributing that later to his cancer diagnosis.

McAvaney was the MC of the Brownlow Medal for over two decades (though at different time periods), between 1990 and 2018.

Since 2018, McAvaney has hosted Seven's coverage of Test cricket, interviewing some of cricket's most interesting figures in the lunch breaks of the Melbourne and Sydney Tests.

In February 2021, McAvaney announced that he was retiring from calling AFL games because of a desire to reduce his workload.

In July 2024, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced McAvaney would be joining its Paris Olympics commentary team on ABC Radio stations.

In April 2025, SBS Sport announced McAvaney would lead its coverage of the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Self-reflective highlights McAvaney with co-host Eddie McGuire ahead of the 2020 AFL State of Origin. When asked between 2018 and 2024 to ponder the greatest and most memorable calls of his career, according to his own estimation, McAvaney has specifically cited—in addition to his various callings of AFL grand finals, specifically highlighting the 2016 AFL Grand Final as his favourite Australian rules football call, his last co-commentary duty with Dennis Cometti—his calling of Cathy Freeman's gold medal in the 400 metres at the 2000 Olympics, Winx's third Cox Plate, Usain Bolt's multiple performances at the 2008 Olympics, Carl Lewis's win at the 1991 World Championships and 1992 Olympics, and Makybe Diva's history-making third-consecutive Melbourne Cup victory. Ultimately, McAvaney said on multiple occasions over this period that Freeman's 2000 victory was "probably the most important of my life as a caller ... and to be a tiny part of that is an incredible privilege".

Awards McAvaney was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2002 for service to sports broadcasting, and to the community through charitable and sporting organisations.

In 2022, he was inducted into the TV Week Logie Hall of Fame, becoming the second sports broadcaster to be inducted.

In June 2023, McAvaney was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He is the eleventh media personality to be inducted into the code's Hall of Fame.

In September 2025, McAvaney was awarded a Veteran Pin from World Athletics.

Personal life

McAvaney's first marriage, to Merry, He moved his family from Melbourne back to his hometown of Adelaide in 1999.

In March 2017, McAvaney revealed he had been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.