Image courtesy of Greg Wolf.
By Brandi Bottger
If you’ve been to any events in the Tampa Bay area, whether it’s sports or entertainment, there’s a high chance you’ve seen Greg Wolf in action. From hosting University of South Florida football games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Wolf has done it all.
The timeline of Wolf’s journey began back while earning his bachelor’s degree in mass communications at USF.
“I fell into the radio industry as a student at USF, I got an internship working for a morning show in Tampa, which was ‘Hooters on the Radio.’ I got an internship on their morning show and was able to get college credit,” Wolf said.
From there, he was determined to understand the ins and outs of producing a radio show, learning how to produce commercials, board operation and make it his job to absorb every ounce of knowledge he could while building his personality. Time passed and Wolf eventually landed himself a position at Wild 98.1, now known as Wild 94.1, as part of the promotions crew.
“Being a college kid here locally, having some morning show radio experience, I was able to work my way into that radio station on the street team and eventually worked my way up to being on air and eventually, having the number one-night show in Tampa for seven years,” Wolf said.
With plenty of experience from multiple radio shows, Wolf finally landed his first job with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2006 as the Marketing Coordinator for the team. His role included working on promoting the Lightning through print ads, television, newspapers, digital billboards and premium giveaway items for fans.
But the ultimate start for Wolf’s rise to hosting began when the Lightning were in search for a host for a game. The Lightning, at the time, had two in-game hosts, but both were unavailable.
“The director was in my boss’s office and he was freaking out because one host had a family emergency and the other was out of town, and they’re literally two hours away from puck drop. I hear this and I kind of eavesdrop my way down the hallway, knocked on my boss’s door and said, ‘I couldn’t help but overhear what’s going on. You obviously know I’m capable to hop in and host the festivities tonight.’ My boss looked at the director and said, ‘I don’t think you have a choice. I think you need to put Greg in,’ and so it became an audition if you will for the Lightning host,” Wolf said.
From then, both the previous hosts secured jobs at other places and Greg was now known as the in-game host for the Tampa Bay Lightning the following season, all the way until the 2009 season, when new owners came in and unfortunately released Wolf from his duties.
In 2011, Jeff Vinik took ownership of the Lightning and asked fans what was missing from games, and it was always, “Where’s Greg Wolf? Why is he not hosting games anymore?” and eventually brought back Wolf who has been with the Lightning ever since.
But when first leaving the Lightning back in 2009, Wolf was hired by Clear Channel, now iHeart Radio, where he ran the sports and news talk stations, which happened to be the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning broadcasts. From 2009 to 2016, he was also the promotions director for 95.3 WDAE News Radio, WFLA and 95.7 The Beat. All of this, while beginning his own business with a colleague called, “Street Laced Marketing & Promotions,” where he holds the position of Vice President.
But when it comes to working a game night, although Wolf is a pro, he still has a set schedule for himself, including arriving to the arena three hours prior to puck drop, looking over his script, and going through a full pre-game rehearsal with the Lightning Vision crew.
“You do have to be extremely timely and understand your role and make sure that you’re executing everything on time and properly,” Wolf said.
But Wolf also spends this time getting to know the Thunder Kid, talking to the control room crew, the ushers, the ice crew, Blue crew and chatting with any special guests that may be in attendance, just to make sure everyone is good and comfortable.
“I like to make my rounds, that’s your duty as the host of the game, to not only be the host, but also be that connection between the fans,” Wolf said.
Then before you know it, Wolf and the Lightning Vision team are beginning their run through of the game presentation, the “blackout” begins, and the Tesla coil roars throughout Amelie Arena.
In his 17 seasons with the Lightning, he’s had more incredible memories than he can count. From soldier homecomings, watch parties and the iconic boat parades, Wolf has had moments fans dream of. But there’s one in particular that will forever hold a special place in his heart, when he met global movie star, John Travolta, during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Normally when we have big celebrities that come through to get the fans fired up or just to be recognized, they don’t normally say much right? So, when I go over to the suite to meet John Travolta, he was so excited and said, ‘What are we going to do?’” Wolf said.
After some discussion and a plan set in place, Wolf and Travolta agreed to him saying, “Tampa Bay! Let me hear you! Let’s Go Bolts!” only for the Lightning to get hit with a penalty.
“We’re getting ready to go live and what happens? Boom, there’s a penalty and if a penalty happens before our break, we do not go live until the two-minute penalty is over,” Wolf said.
This led to Wolf and Travolta having small talk while waiting to go live. Wolf informed Travolta that his mother was a huge fan of him and Grease was her favorite movie. Wolf asked if it was okay if they could send a quick video to her and Travolta didn’t even question it.
“I was like, ‘Would you mind if I just shoot a quick video of me and you saying hi to my mom?’ He’s like, ‘hell yeah, let’s do it,’ So we shot a video for my mom saying, ‘Hi Toby,’ and I sent it to my mom. She almost fainted. For him to do that was so amazing,” said Wolf. “So that’s a moment that I will always remember because he’s such a huge movie star globally!”
In the end, Wolf wouldn’t change his life for the world. Beginning in a local Tampa Bay radio station to hosting games throughout the entire country while having a successful business, he’s done it all and has no plans on stopping.
“You need to like find the thing in life that you love to do and pursue that as your life’s journey because if it’s something you’d really love to do, then it’s really not work, it’s fun. You enjoy every day because it’s an adventure!”
