| Kelly Crull | |
| Birthname: | Kelly Ann Crull |
| Birth Date: | 16 February 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Noblesville, Indiana |
| Occupation: | Sportscaster, television personality |
| Years Active: | 2006–present |
| Employer: | Bally Sports South |
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.
Crull is a native of Noblesville, Indiana, and attended Noblesville High School, where she played tennis and basketball.[2] 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.[3]
Crull earned a tennis scholarship to attend the University of Missouri, where she studied broadcast journalism.[2] 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. Crull graduated in 2006 and began her professional career at Lafayette, Indiana CBS affiliate WLFI-TV,[2] where she covered the Purdue Boilermakers, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Indianapolis 500.[4]
In August 2008, she moved on to Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO,[2] where she served as the weekend sports anchor and a weekday sports reporter.[5] She also covered the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys.[4] Then, she became a sideline reporter for the Oklahoma City Thunder for two seasons from 2010 to 2012.[6] 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.[5]
She joined Fox Sports San Diego in February 2013,[7] serving as a beat reporter and hosting the "Padres Weekly" show.[5] [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.[5] In Chicago, she served as the Chicago Cubs beat reporter.[1] She covered the Chicago Cubs World Series run in 2016. 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]