Art Hains to retire as MSU radio announcer

Art Hains, often referred to as "The Voice of the Bears" for his role calling games for Missouri State University sports, announced his plans to retire.

Hains is scheduled to exit Sept. 13, 2025, after working home games for MSU's football, men's basketball and baseball teams during the 2024-25 season, according to a news release.

The university's primary radio announcer, Hains will end his career in the radio booth for MSU's first-ever home game as a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team. The game will have the Bears host Southern Methodist University, Hains' alma mater.

"My first college broadcast was of an SMU basketball game in 1976," Hains said in the release. "So, my last will be an encore game when SMU comes here next year to play the school I have loved since 1977."

Hains has announced more than 3,000 Bears events since 1985.

In 2022, Hains was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, according to past reporting. He has since returned to broadcasting after the virus caused paralysis and respiratory challenges.

"As Ricky Ricardo once famously said, 'The time has come.' And so it is for my time as ‘Voice of the Bears,’ a title I have cherished for the last 44 years," Hains said in the release. "Unfortunately, due to my physical limitations, it's become more difficult to prepare for and describe the games the way I once did."