Gannon played basketball for North Carolina State University, and under coach Jim Valvano, he was a member of the 1983 Wolfpack "Cardiac Pack" national championship-winning team.
[6] Lipinski stated that Gannon's depth of knowledge, experience, and "the way he brings natural, genuine conversation into the booth" made his style "compelling".
[1] While working at Wide World of Sports, Gannon said that his biggest broadcasting influences were Harry Caray and Al Michaels.
[1] He would learn a sport's rules, key figures from its past and present, and for the purpose of sounding authentic to its fans, its "idiosyncratic language".
[1] Gannon told reporter Barry Wilner that he would also talk about what he knew about the new sport and avoid unfamiliar topics until he learned more about it.
[9] Eventually, although he was most closely associated with figure skating and golf, with what Jacobs called "his warm, authoritative voice and understated manner",[1] Gannon has announced for a wide variety of sporting events.
In 2001, ABC reported that Gannon hosted the Belmont Stakes once and three times called the play-by-play at the Little League World Series.
He has covered five Olympic Games, including serving as studio host and play-by-play commentator for figure skating, short track, rowing, canoeing, and golf.
The trio recognized their chemistry and requested that they call the competition together; the result was the 10 best weekday daytime ratings in NBC's history.
[15] Also in 2018, Gannon began commentating for gymnastics, with 1984 gold medalist Tim Daggett and 2008 all-around champion Nastia Liukin.
[16] Gannon, Lipinski, and Weir also hosted the closing ceremonies of four Olympic games: Pyeongchang (2018), Tokyo (2020), Beijing (2022), and Paris (2024).