Stephanie Brantz (born 1972) is an Australian sports presenter. She began her television career in 2000 on SBS (2000–2006), and has since worked on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

(2006–10),

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

(2010) and is now on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

(2010–present).

Personal life

Brantz, born in Queensland to Dutch parents, began a modelling career in 1985 while attending

St Peters Lutheran College , motto_translation = ''Further beyond'' , established = , authority = Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority , schooltype = Private school , gender = Co-educati ...

in Indooroopilly, which continued through her time at Charles Sturt University. She has two sons and a daughter.

Career

Television career

In 2000, she began her television presenting career with SBS where she became a presenter of ''On the Ball'', before filling in as host of ''

Toyota World Sports ''Toyota World Sport'' was an Australian television sport news program. Airing on SBS at 7pm local time, the long-running show was axed in December 2006. The show aired at 7pm following SBS' 6.30 news (and repeated the following day at 4pm), a ...

'' and later co-hosting the show in 2006 with Les Murray. She also became the face of SBS during their coverage of the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. In July 2006, just after the World Cup, Brantz was recruited by Nine CEO

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television presenter, journalist and Australian Football League commentator. He is also an occasional ''Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosts Channel Nine’s Millionaire ...

to front several sporting programmes, including ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

'', ''

The Cricket Show ''Nine's Wide World of Sports'' is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this br ...

'', ''

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

'' & ''The Footy Show''. During the 2006–2007 summer season, Brantz presented a weekly highlights show of the National Basketball League on the Nine Network, which began on 15 October 2006. She also did "analysis and roving reports" for the network's 2006–07 Ashes cricket coverage. On 19 February 2007, she was appointed the sports presenter on ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...

''. In 2010, she appeared on Fox Sports News reading sports news. AustralianParalympianOfTheYear 273

From late 2010, Brantz joined ABC TV as sports presenter and host for the channel. At ABC, she was the host and 'side-line commentator' for the

W-League (Australia) A-League Women (known as the Liberty A-League for sponsorship reasons), formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Federatio ...

that airs on Sunday afternoons on the network and the WNBL that airs on Saturday afternoons. She was also the host for New South Wales viewers of the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

, as well as the international Hockey, Football, Golf and Basketball coverage. Brantz has hosted the Anzac Day Dawn Service from Gallipoli in 2012–2015, hosted the Gallipoli Symphony and the 2015 Centenary Commemorations of the 'Battle for Lone Pine' as well as the Australian of the Year Awards and the Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony, also in the National Capital on Australia Day (2011–2017). In 2012, she led the ABC's coverage of the London

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. She also fronted the 2013 New Year's Eve coverage alongside

Lawrence Mooney Lawrence Mooney (born 22 April 1965) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, and former television and radio presenter. Radio career Mooney has held various jobs including a cleaner, salesman, furniture polisher and collecting golf balls at a ...

and the coverage of the 2015 Asian Cup. In 2016, Brantz became a freelancer and took on lead commentary duties for the Westfield W-League with Fox Sports, joined ESPN as a regular contributor on their digital platform as well as presenting the US Open Primetime show from Flushing Meadows in 2017. She has continued with the ABC, presenting their WWI commemorations from Villers-Bretonneux, Fromelles and Pozieres, Polygon Wood and Be’er Sheva as well as the Australia Day formalities in Canberra and the Australian Women's Open Golf coverage.

Other roles

As well as her on-air television duties, Brantz is presenter of a pre- and post-match function at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

and

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. At this event, she chats with various commentators from the sport being played at the time. She is also a corporate MC, facilitating conferences and awards nights. Brantz is also an Ambassador and student mentor for the

Australian Indigenous Education Foundation The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) is a non-profit organisation which provides scholarships to the Indigenous students in Australia. History The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation was established in 2008 by Andrew ...

, an ambassador for the Chappell Foundation and was family ambassador of the

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) is the industry association for computer and video games in Australia and New Zealand. The IGEA represents companies that are publishers, distributors and marketers of interactive enter ...

References

External links

Stephanie's journey from soccer mum to the face of World Cup
Anthony Stavrinos ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...