Jeff Phelps is a

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

sportscaster who currently works as the television pregame/postgame host for

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

telecasts on

Fox Sports Ohio Bally Sports Ohio is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is operated as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on professio ...

, the pregame/postgame host for

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

radio broadcasts, and is a midday co-host on

WKRK-FM WKRK-FM (92.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland Heights, Ohio, known as "Sports Radio 92.3 The Fan" and carrying a sports format. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WKRK-FM serves Greater Cleveland and surrounding Northeast Ohi ...

(92.3 The Fan) in Cleveland.

Biography

A native of the

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

area and graduate of

Woodridge High School Woodridge High School is a public high school in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Woodridge Local School District. The district serves Peninsula, northern Cuyahoga Falls, most of Boston Township, and a small ...

(Class of 1978) and

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

(Class of 1982), Phelps began his broadcasting career in Akron on co-owned

WAKR WAKR (1590 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to serve Akron, Ohio, and known as "Soft Hits 93.5 FM". Locally owned and operated by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station primarily services ...

AM 1590 and WAKR-TV 23 as a sports reporter. He then had a five-year stint as a sportscaster on

KJAC KJAC is a non-commercial public radio station located in Timnath, Colorado, broadcasting to the Fort Collins-Denver, Colorado area on 105.5 FM. History Adult hits (2004-2012) The station previously aired an adult hits music format brand ...

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

. In 1988, Phelps became a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor for

WUAB WUAB (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power Telemundo affiliate WT ...

channel 43 in Cleveland on the ''10 O'Clock News'', as well as

WOIO WOIO (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD (channel 6) and Lorai ...

channel 19 after it had become WUAB's sister station, eventually becoming the weeknight sports anchor for both stations. In 1994, Phelps was recognized for his work by the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Pr ...

(NSSA) and named the 1994 Ohio Sportscaster of the Year. In 2003, Phelps then moved to

where he became the pregame and postgame host for

telecasts. He also is a

play by play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer for high school football telecasts on the network as well as the host/ producer of the classic car focused show ''Cruise-In''. Phelps' duties on Fox Sports Ohio also have included at various points hosting

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, and

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

pregame and postgame shows.Jeff Phelps « CBS Cleveland
/ref> In 2011, the

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

owned

92.3 switched to a

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format. Upon the switch, Phelps then became the co-host for the midday ''Baskin & Phelps'' program, alongside former

WEWS-TV WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by Sc ...

5 sports director Andy Baskin. Phelps continues his Fox Sports Ohio work along with his radio duties. In 2013, following WKRK-FM becoming one of the flagship stations for the

, Phelps became part of the Browns Radio Network gameday broadcast team, hosting the network pregame and postgame shows. In 2014, Phelps was the radio play-by-play announcer for Browns preseason games, as well as the postgame host for regular season games. In 2022, Phelps retire from Cavs postgame

Awards

*Three-time

Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards The NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter is one of 19 regional chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Lower Great Lakes Chapter (formerly Cleveland Chapter) was founded in 1969. In addition to granting Emmy® Awards to pro ...

recipient (1991, 1993, 1999) *1994 Ohio Sportscaster of the Year, presented by NSSA *2007 inductee - Ohio Broadcasters Hall of FameCavs media guide - Cavs.com
/ref>

Personal life

Phelps currently lives in

Medina, Ohio Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Clevelan ...

with his wife and three children. He grew up on the same street as Cleveland-based NBA writer Sam Amico. The two are lifelong friends.

References

External links

WKRK-FM online profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Jeff Living people People from Akron, Ohio American television sports announcers American television sports anchors Television anchors from Cleveland Cleveland Cavaliers announcers Cleveland Indians announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters Kent State University alumni Cleveland Browns announcers National Football League announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters High school football announcers in the United States College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Ohio State Buckeyes football announcers National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) commentators People from Medina, Ohio 1960 births