Leila Rahimi is an American television sports anchor and reporter.
Leila Rahimi | |
|---|---|
 Rahimi in May 2024 | |
| Born | Denton, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Texas |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist Newscaster |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Television | KXII-TV Fox Sports Southwest KXAN-TV Fox Sports San Diego Comcast SportsNet Houston MLB Network Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia NBC Sports Chicago WMAQ-TV |
Biography
editRahimi was born and raised in Denton, Texas.[1] After high school, she interned with Dallas Mavericks announcers Wally Lynn and Mike Fisher.[1] In 2002, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Texas with a degree in journalism.[2][3] From 2001 to 2005, she worked as an anchor/reporter with KTCK-AM Sports Radio in Dallas. In 2006,[1] she went to work as a sports anchor/reporter with CBS-affiliate KXII-TV in Sherman, Texas. She held various positions at Fox Sports Southwest in Dallas from 2001 to 2011.[2] In 2007, she accepted a position with NBC-affiliate KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas.[2] In 2012, she moved to San Diego to work for Fox Sports San Diego where she served as the field reporter for the San Diego Padres and produced a weekly program.[2] She then returned to Texas, working at Comcast SportsNet Houston as an anchor, reporter, and sideline reporter for the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets; while in Houston, she was nominated for several Emmy awards.[2] In 2014 and 2015, Rahimi worked with the MLB Network while in Philadelphia and was an anchor and reporter for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.[2] In October 2015, she was hired as the anchor for NBC Sports Chicago,[2] where she, as of the 2019-20 season, serves as the sideline reporter for Chicago Bulls broadcasts and hosted White Sox pre-game and post-game shows. In August 2020, Rahimi was laid off from NBC Sports Chicago as part of company-wide cutbacks at NBCUniversal due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
In January 2021 Rahimi was announced as a partner to long-time WSCR host Dan Bernstein on a new mid-day show dubbed "Bernstein and Rahimi".[5] She has since continued contributing to WSCR, making appearances on the "Bernstein and Holmes Show" (often referred to as "Leila Wednesdays") and occasionally filling in for either of them.
A year after she was laid off from NBC Sports Chicago, Rahimi returned to the NBCUniversal family in November as a part-time sports anchor and reporter for NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV. She currently rotating their duties alongside Mike Berman and Jeff Blanzy in the station's weeknight newscasts, and currently co-hosting with Berman on the weekly sports news program Sports Sunday, replacing their longtime main sports anchor Siafa Lewis, when he was hired by CBS-owned station KYW-TV as weekday news anchor in the same month. Rahimi was second female co-host of Sports Sunday, behind Paula Faris.[6]
As of the 2023-24 season, Rahimi has returned to sideline reporting duties for select Bulls home broadcasts on NBC Sports Chicago.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c DFW.com: "Leila Rahimi, formerly of 'The Ticket,' is a shooting star" by Jat Betsill November 17, 2010
- ^ a b c d e f g CSN Chicago: "CSN Hires Leila Rahimi as Full-Time Anchor/Reporter" by Duane Dudek October 28, 2015
- ^ Houston's Most Eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes: "Leila Rahimi" by Marcy de Luna October 21, 2014
- ^ Phil Rosenthal (4 August 2020). "NBC Sports Chicago scales back programming amid staff layoffs, with Leila Rahimi, Laurence Holmes and 'Sports Talk Live' among the cuts". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ^ "The Score promotes Leila Rahimi to midday co-host with Dan Bernstein - Robert Feder". www.robertfeder.com. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
- ^ "As Siafa Lewis exits, Leila Rahimi joins NBC 5 sports team". www.robertfeder.com. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ Leila Rahimi returns to Bulls broadcasts - X