Marvin Bates
Marvin "Marv" Bates was a prominent radio sports announcer from Evansville, celebrated for his influence in local broadcasting and deep ties to the sports community in Evansville for three decades.
Beginning his radio career in 1947, Bates quickly established himself as a versatile and engaging broadcaster at WIKY, moving to WGBF two years later, where he served as sports director.
Known for his dedication to sports, he was the play-by-play broadcaster for the University of Evansville’s basketball games on WUEV. His sports broadcasting work also included high school basketball and football as well as the local minor league baseball team, the Evansville Triplets.
Bates's innovative approach to broadcasting included using recorded sound effects and teletype information to simulate live away games, making remote listeners feel like they were at the game. This creativity, along with his clear, insightful commentary, earned him the title of Indiana Sportscaster of the Year twice, in 1963 and 1967.
In 1975, Bates gained a national audience when Tom Snyder featured him on his NBC show. Later that year, baseball player turned sportscaster Joe Garagiola brought his NBC baseball pregame show to Evansville just to highlight the innovative sports broadcasting work of Marv Bates.
Bates’s legacy extended beyond his radio work, as he was also a beloved social science teacher at Central High School in Evansville.
Tragically, Bates’s life was cut short on December 13, 1977, when he perished in a plane crash that claimed the lives of the entire University of Evansville basketball team. Twenty-nine people died when the DC-3 airplane crashed just 90-seconds after take-off from the Evansville airport. The team was on its way to play Middle Tennessee State.
The disaster left an indelible mark on the community, cementing Bates’s memory as both a voice for the sport and a committed figure in Indiana’s broadcast history.
Bates and everyone on the plane who died that night were inducted into the University of Evansville Athletics Hall of Fame in 1978-1979. Bates was additionally inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Hall of Fame.
November 2024