H eadlines
76ers Broadcaster Marc Zumoff Retires
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
AFTER ANNOUNCING more
than 2,100 Philadelphia 76ers
games, the veteran sportscaster
known lovingly by fans as “Zoo,”
is finally, to use his words,
coming in for a landing.

Sixers announcer Marc
Zumoff, who is Jewish,
announced his retirement on
June 29, following 27 years of
making calls for the team.

After attending his first
Sixers game on Feb. 29, 1964,
Zumoff became enamored with
the team, at just 8 years old.

“That was the night the
Philadelphia 76ers became my
first love,” Zumoff wrote for
NBC Sports.

Following that fateful
evening, Zumoff began down his
path to sportscasting, religiously
watching Wilt Chamberlain-era
games on his television, giving
spiels into his cassette recorder
— a bar mitzvah gift.

Courtesy of the Philadelphia 76ers
Zumoff in 1990 while working for
PRISM Jewish Exponent archives
After announcing for
the Temple University Owls
football and basketball teams
as a student, Zumoff eventually
landed a gig at PRISM, a regional
cable channel, working there as a
play-by-play announcer for 12
years before being named the
announcer for the Sixers in
1994, where he accumulated his
numerous awards.

Zumoff, a Philadelphia native,
has received a slew of accolades
for his work, including a 2011
induction to the Philadelphia
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame,
the 2018 Bill Campbell Award
from the Philadelphia Sports
Writers Association, the 2018
and 2019 title of Pennsylvania
Sportscaster of the Years award
by the National Sports Media
Association, as well as 19
Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.

But Zumoff is beloved for
more than just his talent.

The Sixers haven’t won a
championship since 1983, and
“The Process,” jump-started
under former General Manager
Sam Hinkie, hasn’t delivered one
yet, either.

Yet unlike so many in the
world of sports, Zumoff didn’t
want to be a part of the team just
to win. To him, the Sixers’ tribu-
lations had little to do with his
responsibility as a sportscaster.

“Even though the team hasn’t
played very well, from a personal
standpoint, I’m getting used to
the grind. In fact, it’s even better
than I imagined,” Zumoff said
to the Jewish Exponent in 1995.

Perhaps Zumoff was truly
successful, in this sense, of
“turning garbage into gold.”
Over the course of his nearly-
three decade tenure, Zumoff
amassed a fandom that trusted
him. “What it boils down to is
that they’ve invited me into
their home for the purposes of
watching a team they’re very
passionate about, and they want
to know, whether it’s bad or it’s
good, when they’re frustrated
or they’re elated, I’m there with
them, providing a soundtrack
that reflects all of that.”
But don’t be fooled — Zumoff’s
career wasn’t purely for basket-
ball fans. For a boy growing up
in North Philadelphia, playing
basketball on the telephone-pole
hoop outside his house, with the
dream of one day becoming the
announcer for his childhood
team, Zumoff knows that his
career was a dream come true.

“I’m doing my dream job,
being an announcer for the
76ers. I’ve reached my ultimate
goal and not many people can
say that,” Zumoff said to the
Exponent in 2015.

Zumoff recognizes that he
was one of the few broadcasters
able to have his particular role.

“There are only 30 jobs like
this in the entire universe,
and I ended up broadcasting
the games for the team I grew
M LE
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H eadlines
up rooting for,” he said in a
Philadelphia Inquirer interview.

“I had reached, in my mind, the
pinnacle of my profession.”
His retirement comes from a
desire, foremost, to spend more
time with his wife, Debbie, to
whom he’s been loyal longer
than he’s worked for the Sixers.

“I can never repay her for all
of the nights and weekends she
spent alone, raising our sons and
holding down her own, high-pres-
sure career. Simply, she is my best
friend, and we want to spend
more time together,” he wrote.

In a statement, 76ers
managing partners Josh Harris
and David Blitzer thanked
Zumoff for his time with the
team: “We’ll miss his iconic
voice and trademark sayings,
which have been staples during
76ers games for the better part
of two decades.”
Following his farewell,
Zumoff wants to spend more
time learning Spanish and
Financial advice
from a
knowledgeable neighbor.

learning to play the flute, skills
untouched since the eighth and
ninth grades, respectively. He
wants to “cook, travel and by all
means give back with my time
and strength to the charitable
causes that I hope will make for
a better world.”
His decision to retire — as
Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski
wrote — at the apex of his career,
was deliberate: “There’s a lot out
there for me to still do, and I want
to do it all while I’m still able.”
The Sixers haven’t named
Zumoff’s successor and are
planning to release the details
on an upcoming “Marc Zumoff
Night” at the Wells Fargo Center.

In the meantime, Zumoff
plans to enjoy the Sixers the
same way he did over a half
century ago: glued to the televi-
sion, watching his team play 82
times a year. l
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