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Amanda Balionis is a sportscaster for CBS. While golf is an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden, Amanda is a lady most welcome on the pro golf tour. Her charm and humor have quickly won the hearts of CBS viewers and professional sports personalities alike.
Amanda Balionis is a practiced golfer herself, so she knows her subject well. She also covers American football for CBS. Her fiance is former NFL quarterback Brynn Renner, so she may have an inside scoop in that area too.
Amanda Balionis quick facts
- Full Name: Amanda Balionis
- Birth Date: 06/20/1985
- Birth Place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Nick Name: None
- Nationality: U.S Siblings: None
- Children: None
- Fiancée: Bryn Renner
- Profession: Journalist, reporter, sportscaster
- Salary: Approx $35,000 – $150,000
- Net Worth: approx $1,000,000
- Social Media: Twitter, Instagram
- Awards: None
- Last Updated: 12/07/2021
Amanda Balionis Birthplace and Early Life
Amanda Balionis was born into a family of keen golfers in 1985, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Balionis’ family pressured her into taking golf lessons at an early age. The early lessons would serve her well later in her career. But it would be a few years until she discovered her own passion for the sport.
After graduating from Manheim Township High School in 2004, Amanda Balionis attended Kutztown University, Pennsylvania. Balionis was drawn to the action of volleyball and qualified for the university team. In her Sophomore year, Balionis moved to New York. She enrolled at Hofstra University in Long Island to study Journalism.
After realizing her height of 5’7” was too short to compete in the D1 school’s Volleyball team, Balionis started to focus on sports reporting. She quickly became involved in the University’s newspaper and radio station, reporting on sporting events.
Amanda Balionis showed early potential as a journalist. She worked at the university radio station – WRHU, and the student-run Hofstra Chronicle Newspaper. During her time at Hofstra University, she became involved with the New York Jets NFL football team. The Jets use the facilities at Hofstra in training.
The Jets media management recognized Balionis’ reporting talent, which earned her an internship for the NFL team. The NHL team also noted her journalism skills, the New York Islanders, for whom she also interned.
While in New York, Balionis had her first taste of working for a major broadcasting house, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). She worked on the morning slot of a local Manhattan production. But despite having to commute to work before dawn, she found journalism was her niché.
In 2008, Amanda Balionis graduated college with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. At the time, it was the height of the recession, and Balionis struggled to find work in New York. So she returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and began writing for a local paper Lancaster Newspaper (LNP).
Amanda Balionis Professional Career
2008
Balionis wrote a variety of stories and news articles for LNP, but her passion was the sports column. While working for the newspaper, Balionis interviewed a family whose home had just burned down. She said, “I cried for days afterward.”
Balionis received job offers to report on the news, but she turned them down. Instead, her heart was set on the camaraderie that comes with reporting on team sports. Amanda Balionis’ decision to hold out for a sports job finally paid off. Towards the end of 2008, she found herself reporting from the sideline on high school sports for Verizon Fios channel 1.
2009
While at Verizon, Balionis reported on coverage of women’s soccer and basketball. Balionis was recruited by Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network and started reporting on high school sports not long after. Balionis would continue to commentate on high school volleyball tournaments covered by MSG.
2011
In 2011 Balionis moved to Florida to take a job with the Professional Golfers Association (PGA). She reported on PGA tours and hosted media content on their website. Balionis called on her early golf training and her family’s love of the sport. But in spite of her early affinity with golf, she threw herself into the work.
Amanda Balionis’ dedication to research and her approachable manner made her an easy choice for promotion. But her penchant for asking questions that required a detailed response was the skill that would cement her career path.
2016
Amanda Balionis was approached by the equipment manufacturer Calloway Golf and recruited to produce digital content. Successfully landing the job at Calloway Golf meant that Balionis had to move to the other side of the country.
After arriving in California, it was not long before Turner Sports contacted Balionis. It looked to be a similar job to the one she was doing for Calloway Golf on the surface. But by the end of the year, she was conducting interviews with players at the PGA championships at Baltusrol Golf Club, New Jersey.
Her class and style quickly caught the eye of CBS top dogs, and she was made part of the sports reporting team by the broadcasting house.
2017
2017 was the year that Amanda Balionis’ sportscasting career took off. She interviewed players following the Genesis Open in Los Angeles. She did such a great job that CBS requested she cover more tournaments throughout the year.
2018
In 2018 Balionis was made a permanent member of the CBS golf reporting team. Her bosses noticed her talent was not limited to golf, and she was assigned to report on other sports too.
She covered other sports for CBS, including high school as well as professional football matches.
2019
In 2019 CBS made Amanda Balionis the social media correspondent for the 2019 super bowl. Her work covering the NFL for CBS would bring about a meeting with Bryn Renner in November, soon after the pair started dating.
2020
The pandemic has impacted everyone’s lives, but Amanda Balionis used the situation to develop her yoga. She is a qualified Yoga instructor, and in May, started a weekly beginners yoga course, focussed on stretches and breathing.
In July, Balionis joined her voice to the “Black Lives Matter” movement in an interview with T-Mac.
2021
For much of the year, Amanda Balionis has been focused on her campaigns – Golf and Puppies, K9s for warriors, and Girls n’ Golf. Calloway Golf got behind Amanda’s campaign for K9s for Warriors and raised over $30,000 for the charity in an auction.
Amanda Balionis and Bryn Renner announced their engagement on social media in March 2021.
Amanda Balionis Memorable Career Moments
Amanda Balionis has conducted a number of well-received interviews on the golf tour, notably providing support for emotional Genesis Invitational winner Max Homa.
Another interview she can be proud of is with a grief-stricken Tiger Woods. She spoke to him just moments after Woods learned of the death of his friend and NBA star, Kobe Bryant.
Amanda Balionis Video
Amanda Balionis’ most-watched clip on YouTube shows the reporter interviewing Rickie Fowler for “Buy a Mulligan.”
Amanda Balionis Family / Partner
The Balionis family were supporters of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Amanda enjoyed going to Heinz Field and felt, as an only child, that the other fans were like a huge family. Football, however, was the second love of the family, following golf. Amanda Balionis’ grandparents met one another on the golf course, and the sport immediately became a family tradition.
Amanda’s father passed away in 2016, and the grief affected her greatly. She was diagnosed with an eating disorder as a consequence of her unhealthy mental state. But as with many successful people, she turned adversity to her benefit.
As a way to cope with the grief, Amanda Balionis started practicing yoga. Yoga helped her to change her mindset and also worked to get her eating disorder under control. She felt such benefit from the physical training that she completed a 200-hour course to qualify her as a yoga instructor.
Amanda Balionis is the type of person who enjoys helping people, and seeing her personal benefit, shared her experience. Balionis started a series of eight 10-minute long yoga sessions on YouTube. The program was created in association with Stifel and entitled “Stretch and Yoga with Amanda Balionis.”
In 2021 Amanda Balionis and Bryn Renner have been dating for almost 2 years. The couple announced their engagement recently. On March third, Bryn got down on one knee on an idyllic beach to propose to Amanda. She happily accepted, and in an Instagram post said, “Hey @BrynRenner… forever sounds kinda perfect”. The couple does not yet have any children.
Amanda Balionis Net Worth and Career Earnings
Amanda Balionis has a net worth currently estimated at approximately $1,000,000. Her annual salary is between $35,000 and $150,000, including bonuses.
FAQs
Question: Is Amanda Balionis Married?
Answer: No, she is currently engaged to her fiance Bryn Renner
Question: Does Amanda Balionis still report on Golf?
Answer: Yes, she does. She currently works as a golf analyst and sportscaster for CBS.
Question: Who is the lady that interviews golfers?
Answer: Amanda Balionis.
Research Citations
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