CBS Sports Employee Dead at 31 After Car Crash While Working 2026 Memorial Championship

Bryce Adair, a production assistant for CBS Sports, has died after being involved in a car crash while working the 2026 Memorial Championship. 

The single-car accident happened on Wednesday, June 3, near the site of the tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Adair was transported to Columbus’ Riverside Methodist Hospital, where he died on Saturday, June 6. He was 31. 

Legendary CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz paid tribute to Adair during the third round of the Memorial Championship on Saturday.

“We’d like to pause and be fully transparent about a huge loss from earlier today within our CBS Sports family,” Nantz, 67, said. “Trust me when I tell you that in over 40 years, I have never seen our crew of over 250 people go into a broadcast like this one, carrying as much grief as they are right now.”

Nantz, who was noticeably emotional, called Adair an “incredibly bright, charismatic teammate.”

“Bryce came to us from Augusta, Georgia, in 2017,” Nantz said. “Right away, he was embraced by everyone on our production and technical teams. Everyone loved him. Every day, Bryce, he would greet you with a warm smile and a caring, compassionate spirit. He did many things for us. He won an Emmy for our Super Bowl broadcast. He was even training to one day be a Steadicam operator.”

Nantz continued, “The world was his and he deserved the world. I’m the one that has a chance to tell you how much we loved him. From our number one NFL team and our golf crew, I just want to say to his mother, Michelle, thank you for sharing your remarkable son with us. We loved him and he will never be forgotten.”

CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis also honored Adair’s legacy via social media after the Memorial Tournament. 

“This loss is heartbreaking to put it mildly,” Balinois, 39, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, June 7. “Bryce Adair was one of the brightest lights on our team. When you saw him, it was always with a smile and a willingness to do whatever was needed to make someone else’s day easier. I’ll always remember our golf cart chats, watching his Eagles win a Super Bowl together and more importantly I’ll forever remember the way he so freely gave his kindness and positivity to anyone who was lucky enough to cross his path.”

She added, “We will miss Bryce deeply, but we will continue to carry his legacy forward by trying to be even half the person he was—to each of us and to everyone around him 💚.”

A GoFundMe was set up in the wake of Adair’s death, which has raised more than $79,000 at the time of publication.