American sportscaster and television personality
Kelly Ann Crull (born February 16, 1984) is an American sportscaster and television personality, who has been a digital and on-air contributor for the Oklahoma City Thunder , San Diego Padres , Chicago Cubs ,[ 1] Chicago Bulls , Atlanta Braves , and Atlanta Hawks . She has also worked for Fox Sports and NBC Sports Chicago .
Early life
Crull is a native of Noblesville, Indiana ,[ 1] and attended Noblesville High School , where she played tennis and basketball .[ 2] [ 3] By her junior year, she realized that she was unlikely to play tennis professionally, but wanted to remain involved in sports. Being talkative and outgoing, she decided to pursue a career in sportscasting.[ 4]
Career
Crull earned a tennis scholarship to attend the University of Missouri , where she studied broadcast journalism.[ 3] As part of her undergraduate experience, she worked for Columbia, Missouri NBC affiliate KOMU-TV , and she also had internships or did work for ESPN , the CBS News Bureau in London and Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR-TV .[ 3] Crull graduated in 2006 and began her professional career at Lafayette, Indiana CBS affiliate WLFI-TV ,[ 3] where she covered the Purdue Boilermakers , Chicago Bears , Indianapolis Colts and Indianapolis 500 .[ 5]
In August 2008, she moved on to Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO ,[ 3] where she served as the weekend sports anchor and a weekday sports reporter.[ 6] She also covered the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys .[ 5] Then, she became a sideline reporter for the Oklahoma City Thunder for two seasons from 2010 to 2012.[ 2] In addition to serving as the Thunder sideline reporter for the Fox Sports Network , she was host of the Thunder's pre-game show and weekly "Thunder Insider" show.[ 6]
She joined Fox Sports San Diego in February 2013,[ 7] serving as a beat reporter and hosting the "Padres Weekly" show.[ 6] [ 8] She also served as the backup sideline reporter (to primary sideline reporter Laura Rutledge ) for the San Diego Padres .[ 9] [ 10] [ 11] While a reporter for Fox, it became a tradition to drench Crull with gallons of liquid when the Padres had a walk-off victory.[ 12] [ 13]
Following the 2013 MLB season, she joined NBC Sports Chicago .[ 6] In Chicago, she served as the Chicago Cubs beat reporter.[ 1] She covered the Chicago Cubs World Series run in 2016.[ 1] In February 2018, she co-hosted the sports trivia show Beer Money for its 100th episode.[ 14] For the 2018–19 season, Crull served as the Chicago Bulls sideline reporter for the network.[ 15] In 2020, Crull joined Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast to cover the Atlanta Braves .[ 16] In 2022, Crull worked as a field reporter for Major League Baseball on TBS .[ 17] Crull's contract with Bally expired before the 2024 Major League Baseball season.[ 18] [ 19]
References
^ a b c d Eckstein, Brian (2017-04-11). "Noblesville's Kelly Crull covers the story of a lifetime in Cubs World Series win" . WISH . Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ a b Bracht, Mel (July 26, 2012). "Kelly Crull will not return as OKC Thunder sideline reporter" . NewsOK.com . Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
^ a b c d e Bracht, Mel (July 12, 2010). "OKC Thunder hires KOCO's Kelly Crull to be sideline reporter" . NewsOK.com . Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
^ Lauch, Sarah (March 4, 2017). "CHICAGO: Kelly Crull - Cubs reporter on achieving goals and adjusting along the way" (Podcast). Tomboy. CSN. Event occurs at 1:17.
^ a b "Thunder Hires Kelly Crull to Join Broadcasting Team" . NBA.com . July 12, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
^ a b c d "Comcast SportsNet adds Kelly Crull to talent roster" . BizJournals.com . October 9, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
^ "Fox Sports San Diego announces New On-Air talent" . SB Nation . February 7, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
^ "FOX Sports SD introduces new on-air talent" . FOX Sports . 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ Bracht, Mel (February 7, 2013). "Former Thunder sideline reporter Kelly Crull has been hired by Fox Sports San Diego" . NewsOK.com . Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
^ "Comcast SportsNet adds Kelly Crull to talent roster" . www.bizjournals.com . Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ "Notebook: WGN 87.7 The Game, Kelly Crull, CSN Spring Training, Northwestern Social Media" . Archived from the original on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ "Fox reporter Kelly Crull gets drenched again" . Gaslamp Ball . Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ "Kelly Crull celebrates a Padres walk-off win!" . Gaslamp Ball . Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ Thompson, Phil. "Luke Stuckmeyer and Kelly Crull try to stump 'Beer Money' all-stars in 100th episode" . chicagotribune.com . Retrieved 2018-04-04 .
^ Allardyce, Michael (October 22, 2018). "Kelly Crull talks about covering the Bulls with Laurence Holmes" . NBC Sports . Retrieved October 30, 2018 .
^
Tim Tucker. "Former Cubs broadcaster named to replace Kelsey Wingert on Braves TV" . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved 20 February 2020 .
^ Lucia, Joe (May 31, 2022). "Your MLB announcing schedule for 5/31-6/6" . Awful Announcing .
^ Burns, Gabriel (March 14, 2024). "Bally Sports' 2024 Braves broadcast team includes Tom Glavine, three newcomers" . The Atlanta Journal Constitution . Retrieved March 16, 2024 .
^ Toscano, Justin (March 14, 2024). "Kelly Crull won't return as Atlanta Braves field reporter in 2024" . The Atlanta Journal Constitution . Retrieved March 16, 2024 .
External links
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