“…and now, here’s __________ with the sports!”
While those are familiar words to those who watch local television news, in Atlanta, the seventh-largest Nielsen market in the U.S., that phrase has taken on a new and greater importance.
That’s because sports everywhere, and especially in the Atlanta market, is big business and has become a content gold mine. Sports, whether professional, college, or even high school, is driving conversation in Atlanta, and not just when the teams win or lose, but also the day-to-day decisions in the locker room, back office, or even off property that impact what happens on the field or court.
Sports has always been a part of local television in Atlanta. Former Bulldogs/Falcons play-by-play voice Ed Thilenious, formerly of WAGA TV (when it was a CBS/DuMont station), is believed to be the first sportscaster on Atlanta television in June 1961. Since then, there’s been a lengthy list of media professionals who have delivered the daily news on the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Chiefs (one of Atlanta’s first soccer teams, years before Atlanta United), and others in the Atlanta sports galaxy. Names like Ernie Johnson, Joe Washington, Bill Hartman, Harmon Wages, Art Eckman, Jim Huber, Jim Viondi, Jeff Hullinger, Chuck Dowdle, Randy Waters, Fred Kalil, and Cody Chaffins have been delivering sports news to Atlanta and have become household names in Atlanta in the process.
For years, sports journalism seemed to be mostly a male domain. But that has changed in a big way in the last few years. Jane Chastain was the first female sportscaster in the Atlanta market, starting in 1963 on WAGA TV. Years later, Robin Roberts had the sports news at the same station from 1989 to 1990, on her way to national success on ESPN and later, ABC’s Good Morning America. Christy Deer, Elle Duncan, Sandra Golden, and Erin Andrews (the last two on local sports cable stations) would be among the few women who would land on-camera journalism careers on Atlanta television before 2019. Now, 4 of the 6 stations that have sports operations in Atlanta have at least one female journalist delivering the sports, and of those four, WAGA has the most women on the sports staff, seven.
Atlanta’s growing emphasis on sports coverage comes as many stations nationwide have been cutting back on sports news (or any news in some cases). Locally produced content has always been a cash cow for local stations, and in an active sports market like Atlanta, where the ups and downs of the Falcons, Braves, Hawks, and other pro teams are in competition with the Bulldogs’ annual drive for another national championship. Sports fans want to know, and local TV is the place sports fans turn to get in the know.
Youth, diversity, and multimedia compatibility are the hallmarks of today’s current, new, and next generation of broadcast sportscasters as modern journalism shifts to digital multimedia platforms.
Here’s a look at the media professionals bringing the game to Atlanta viewers on game day and every day.
Note: journalists listed below appear at their respective broadcast TV stations on camera. Some are contracted to the station; others are seasonal staff members or contributors to station sports-oriented TV programs.
WSB TV Channel 2
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Zach Klein Klein is WSB’s Sports Director, the lead sportscaster at the station. He has been with the station since 2008, after five years at the Cox Media Group co-owned WFTV in Orlando, Florida. He’s also worked at WDAF in Kansas City and KOKH in Oklahoma City, another CMG station. The University of Kansas grad won several Emmy Awards, AP and Murrow Awards, and was named National Sports Media Association Georgia Sportscaster of the Year. Fall is a busy time for Klein and everyone else at WSB (and other stations, for that matter) with Football in full effect, as he hosts Sports Zone Friday (high school football) and SEC Gameday (college football). In addition to lead anchoring and reporting on sports (and sometimes non-sports like the 2024 on-scene shooting at Emory University), he also hosts Sports Zone Sunday, Gameday on 2 and the CMG-produced and syndicated entertainment show Hot Topics. He’s featured on The Inner Circle Podcast with Falcons ex-QB/Head of Football Matt Ryan, Aaron Donald and Todd France. |
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Alison Mastrangelo Mastrangelo is the second longest-running sports anchor/reporter at WSB. She joined the station in April 2019. The Philly-born Mastrangelo played basketball and was (and still is) a surfer in high school. She graduated from Rowan University. She started broadcasting at KXRM in Colorado Springs, CO. There, the sports director/anchor covered her first Super Bowls and helped the station launch its sports department. Mastrangelo then joined KMGH Denver, where she covered such Mile High teams as the Broncos, Rockies, Nuggets, and more. She received a Southeastern Emmy nomination for her work as recently as this year. She hosts or co-hosts many of WSB’s sports programming as well as Hot Topics and Destinations Discovered. Her two rescue dogs, Rocky and Lexi, are local social media stars. Mastrangelo’s love of vintage wear is profiled in AlisonsTimelessFinds. |
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Luke Hetrick Hetrick joined WSB in December 2025 and has been covering Atlanta sports ever since. He was a beat reporter for Orlando, Florida’s Spectrum News 13, where he covered the Orlando Magic and Florida Gators. His start in sports media began between the city he worked earlier and where he works now: Macon, Georgia at WGXA TV, where he was lead sports anchor and reporter. Hetrick has degrees from St. Francis University and Sacred Heart University. Like Klein and Mastrangelo, Hetrick is featured in many of WSB’s sports productions in addition to reporting and anchoring. |
WAGA TV Fox 5
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DJ Shockley Shockley, Fox 5’s lead sports anchor and reporter, has an advantage most of his contemporaries in the Atlanta sports media field lack: first-hand professional sports experience. College Park-born Shockley was a quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2001-05, winning two SEC championships. He joined the Atlanta Falcons in 2006 after being drafted by the team in the 7th round. Shockley (or “Shock” as he is often called) got his first media expirence hosting a show where he interviewed teammates and coaches. Not only does Shockley anchor and report for Fox 5 Sports, but he also color-comments football games for ESPN and their SEC Network. He’s even heard doing sidelines for WSB AM/FM Georgia Bulldogs games. He hosts Fox 5’s Early Birds Falcons-oriented show. He joined Fox 5 in July 2021. |
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Justin Felder Felder has the longest tenure at Fox 5’s packed “Sports Bunker”, joining the station in June 2015. He’s covered the Falcons’ last appearance in the Super Bowl, Bulldogs championship runs, the Braves’ World Series triumphs, and the Atlanta United MLS Cup win. Felder won two SE Emmys for his work. He previously worked at WLUK in Green Bay, Wisconsin, covering Aaron Rodgers and Co. and their Super Bowl quest. He also worked at WMBF TV in Myrtle Beach, SC. |
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Kelly Price Like Felder, Tampa Bay area native Price is a proud Gator who also did time in Green Bay covering the Packers. She is the second longest-tenured member of the Fox 5 sports crew (she joined in 2019) and is the station’s reporter and fill-in sports anchor. She’s a regular visitor to Falcons HQ in Flowery Branch, getting the latest news and interviews on the team. She frequently appears on Fox’s streaming platform Fox Local, updating and analyzing current sports news. She also hosts two of the station’s “satellite” Falcons-centric programs, Dirty Bird Report and Rise Up Tonight. The recent new mom regularly shares her experiences as a working mom in the sports media field on her Instagram account. |
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Victor Prieto Here’s another Gator at Fox 5 Sports who ironically has to cover the Dawgs. Prieto joined the team in August 2021 and is a multimedia journalist. He originally produced the station’s Falcons-oriented programs, then expanded his focus to the Braves as well as Falcons games. Prieto hails from Miami and has worked in Nashville, won a regional Emmy, and is a member of the Sports Journalism Institute, which works to enhance diversity in sports journalism. |
 Credit: Instagram/Georgia Chambers |
Georgia Chambers The Fox 5 Sports Bunker has five Dawgs currently working at the station, and Chambers is one of them. The anchor/reporter is also one of the newest hires at the station. She joined the station in July 2023 as a seasonal producer for Falcons programming, which netted her an Emmy Award. She’s on her second season as host for Bulldogs Now in September 2025. She’s one of two Fox 5 sports reporters who worked in the Huntsville, Alabama market before joining the Fox O&O. Nebraska-born Chambers was a weekend Sports Anchor for WAFF-TV in that market. She also briefly reported for the local sports blog, Rowdy Sports. |
Credit: WAGA TV |
Lexi Bowden Bowen joined Fox 5 Sports in July 2025 and has anchored and reported for the station ever since. Her previous work was at ESPN+, where she did sideline reporting for WKU basketball games and Kennesaw State University baseball and softball games. She’s a University of Wisconsin-Madison grad. |
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Olivia Whitmire Atlanta native Whitmire is one of two ex-Huntsville market sports journalists now working at WAGA. She worked at WHNT 19 during Chambers’ time at WAFF. Before she headed to Atlanta last year, the Alabama grad spent two years producing and reporting at her University’s TV station, WUVA Ch. 23, before serving as sports director for 7 years at WHNT. She then joined Fox 5, where she’s a sports anchor, reporter, and producer. In addition, over the summer, Whitmire hosted KSU’s women’s lacrosse home opener for ESPN+. |
 Credit: Instagram/Emily Wisniewski |
Emily Wisniewski Wisniewski does reporting duty for the station, most recently reporting on the Falcons season opener vs. the Steelers. Wisniewski is a former UGA grad. She works at the “Bunker” during the busy Fall football season, where she produces and reports. She is also a studio host for Braves Vision and a contributor for The Nest ATL, a local sports website launched by Fox 5 alumni Miles Garrett and Sudu Upadhyay. Her previous experiences include KAMC and KLBK in Lubbock, TX, and ESPN+. |
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Rusty Mansell Georgia Football fans know who Rusty Mansell is. He’s the one they turn to for the latest on the Dawgs, and he contributes that information to Fox 5 viewers via their show, Bulldogs Now, which he co-hosts with Chambers. The Southern New Hampshire University grad is also publisher of On3 and co-owner and publisher of DawgsHQ. He can regularly be heard giving analysis on WZGC 929 The Game (where he regularly appears on The Steakhouse with host Steak Shapiro) and doing play-by-play for Friday night high school football games for WANF. His daughter, Kaylee, is a host and analyst on the Bulldogs for the AJC’s Dawg Nation. |
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Cecily Stoute Another UGA sports journalist with athletic credentials. The former UGA grad was a defender for the Georgia Lady Dawgs soccer team and was on the Trinidad and Tobago women’s team. Stoute started her sports journalism journey at WMAZ Macon. She helped the station cover the 2026 FIFA World Cup. |
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Tori McElhaney Fox 5 contributor McElhaney (she works for the Falcons as their senior writer) has earned national attention for her analysis and coverage of Falcons football, and she’s brought that knowledge to viewers through her co-hosting duties on Rise Up Tonight with Price, her fifth year doing so. She’s appeared on Atlanta sports media on 92.9 The Game, WXIA, WANF, and WSB, as well as a regular presence on podcasts and interviews on AtlantaFalcons.com. She was a former high school basketball and softball player who started her sports journalism career writing for The Athletic. McElhaney is one of five UGA grads working and contributing to the station’s sports coverage. |
Georgia Public Broadcasting
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Matt Stewart Stewart has been with Georgia Public Broadcasting’s football coverage since 2014, and is now calling the high school games profiled on GPB. He’s done play-by-play for 29 straight seasons. He won three straight Emmy awards from 2022-24. Stewart’s resume is extensive, with stops at Comcast Sports Southeast (1996-2014); ESPN/SEC Network, WXIA TV, Georgia Network, Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network, Atlanta Hawks and Braves Radio Networks, WGST FM and WQXI AM (790 The Zone). |
WXIA 11 Alive/WATL
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Maria Martin Since joining 11 Alive in October 2019, South Floridian Martin has made quite an impact on local sports journalism at the station and the Atlanta market. The lead anchor/reporter covered the Braves World Series triumph, back-to-back championship runs for the Dawgs, and the Kenesaw Owls Men’s Basketball team’s national championship quest. She’s co-hosted parades for the Braves and Bulldogs, and her interviews and stories have attracted national attention. The Emmy, GABBY, and Murrow Award winner has just added ESPN sideline duties for college football. The proud Ole Miss grad helped develop the first full credit course for students at her alma mater seeking to gain sports broadcast expirence. Her Sunday sports show Sports Extra ended its run recently, but not before earning her more Emmy nominations and a GABBY for “Best Sports Program.” And she won “Best Atlanta Sports Anchor” in Atlanta Magazine repeatedly. Her dynamic career started at Montgomery-Selma station WSFA, where she covered three straight SEC Championships and Auburn University’s Final Four Run. Her husband, former Buffalo Bills QB Levi Brown, coaches the Walton High School Raiders. Her rescue dog, Dexter, has become one of Atlanta’s most popular pets on social media. |
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Reggie Chatman Jr. San Francisco Bay Area native Chatman Jr. graduated from LSU, where he worked at WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, covering Bayou Country teams like the LSU Tigers, New Orleans Saints, and Pelicans. He covered the Tigers’ 2019 National Championship win and their QB and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. He covered Southern University’s SWAC Championship runs and the Saints QB Drew Brees’s concluding years with the team. In addition to covering sporting events like the 2025 FIFA World Cup, he filled in for Martin on Sports Extra until its demise earlier this year. |
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Marcus Greaves Greaves was a former running back with Oregon State University. He later swapped the gridiron for the mic and began covering the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, and Oregon State Beavers for KION TV and 1080 The Fan. He headed to San Diego to KFMB before he headed east to Atlanta. He was born in Fayetteville, N.C. |
Atlanta News First/WPCH
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Baillie Burmaster Burmaster filled the role of WANF’s former sports director, Fred Kalil, in July 2023, and she’s on track to become a local sports journalism legend herself. She brought with her expirence that comes from A.) working in sports cities like Cleveland, Green Bay, and Lubbock, Texas; B.) covering well-known athletes like Pat Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Giannis Antetokounmpo; and C.) being an athlete herself. In her college years at Oklahoma State University, she was a player with the OSU Cowgirls Women’s Soccer team, where she won a Big 12 Championship in 2011, went to the Elite Eight that same year, and made two additional NCAA appearances. She was a 4-time Academic All-American/All Big 12 and was voted Most Inspiring Athlete at OSU in her senior year. In addition to her leadership of the sports team at ANF, Emmy-winning Burmaster has been a color commentator for women’s college soccer on regional networks and a sideline reporter for the United Rugby League. She covered the launch of the Atlanta women’s soccer team, Angel Reese‘s arrival to the Atlanta Dream, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Burmaster is from Duluth, Georgia, and graduated from Peachree Ridge High School. |
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Avery Braxton The sports anchor and reporter joined ANF in 2025, after covering the Memphis Grizzlies, University of Memphis bowl wins, and the Ja Morant gun scandal for ABC 24 in Memphis. He also covered March Madness, AAC Championships, and the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Before those four years in Memphis, Braxton worked at WMAZ in Macon, where he was named best sports anchor by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters. The Atlanta native and Mercer University grad was the stadium host for the Atlanta Falcons in fall 2021. |
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Connor Hines Hines joined ANF as a sports reporter in July 2024, and like Braxton, Hines worked in Macon, Georgia, where he covered the Braves and Bulldogs championship runs. He attended Indiana University |
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Kinsey Lee Oklahoma-born Lee is among a new generation of local sports reporters who have taken root in the Atlanta market in recent years. She arrived in October 2025 as a sports anchor and reporter. Like Burmaster, she graduated from OSU and cut her teeth in sports journalism covering OSU athletics as well as the OKC Thunder. She worked in Lexington, Kentucky, covering the Kentucky Derby, golf pro Scottie Scheffler’s arrest, and the John Calipari-to-Mark Pope transition for Kentucky men’s basketball. |
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Landon Knight Knight started her first year hosting ANF’s coverage of high school football games this year. She’s also a host for SCORE Atlanta, which televises Georgia high school football games. The UGA grad and Miss Spirit of Georgia 2025 is from McDonough, Georgia. |
CBS Atlanta
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Sam Crenshaw Crenshaw (and Matt Stewart) are two of the most storied sports journalists in Atlanta. The University of West Georgia grad was a sports director at WRDW TV Augusta, an announcer at WSB FM, and worked at WFMY, Greensboro, NC, before heading to WXIA TV in 1998. He anchored and reported sports there (winning an Emmy in 2003) until 2014. In addition to delivering sports coverage for CBS Atlanta, he also does Friday night high school football analysis, weekend mornings, and fill-ins at 929 The Game. He was also a producer and on-camera talent City of Atlanta TV and GPB Sports, and was a sideline reporter and did play-by-play for ESPN2. Crenshaw hosts USTA’s Southern Talking Tennis Southern Style podcast and Matchpoint Atlanta. He serves on USTA’s Georgia board and received the USTA’s Media Excellence Award. |
Updated 9/22/26 with updated information and content for Georgia Chambers and Olivia Whitmire.
