Nick Wright

Nicholas James Wright (born October 3, 1984) is an American sports television personality, podcaster, and former radio talk show host. Wright is a co-host of First Things First, a talk show on Fox Sports 1 (FS1), alongside Kevin Wildes and Chris Broussard. Signed to The Volume podcast network, he also hosts What's Wright? with Nick Wright with his son, Damonza Byrd. Outside of sports, Wright has also participated in poker competitions.

His presence in the sports media landscape has garnered him both praise and criticism from fellow media members and viewers, who have particularly noted his open fandom for his hometown professional sports teams and basketball player LeBron James, as well as his outspoken views on social issues in sports.

Early life Nick Wright was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He is of partial Polish-Jewish descent through one of his grandfathers. He also has Irish and Italian ancestry and was raised Roman Catholic. His father was the president of the firefighters' union in Kansas City. As the show would not let children on-air, he had his father get him through the show's screeners, before criticizing the clock management of Chiefs head coach Marty Schottenheimer. The show enjoyed Wright's insights so much that he earned a regular segment dubbed Nick the Kid.

He attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism. While at Syracuse, he worked at WAER-FM as sports talk director. Shortly after graduating, he was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He then began hosting What's Wright with Nick Wright?, his own weekly program on the station. The Pitch, a local Kansas City newspaper, called Wright "610 Sports' most polarizing and likely most popular host," and also named him the best sports personality in 2010. In 2010, Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock appeared on a simulcast television and radio show hosted by Wright. On the show, Whitlock announced his departure from the newspaper and "decided to nuke everybody publicly on the way out". He credited leaving to Houston to his career goal "or finish line" to be regarded as the "biggest sports talk personality in America", if 100 sports fans were polled "Family Feud style". Then-Fox Sports executive Jamie Horowitz used Carter and Wright's co-hosting venture to test their chemistry together, in order to assess the potential of them co-hosting a daily morning sports talk show on FS1. Carter and Wright were joined by reporter Jenna Wolfe, who fills the show's moderator and anchor role. First Things First also functioned as a lead-in program for Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.

In June 2019, Wright received media attention for making an inaccurate claim during an episode of First Things First about the awarding of the 2015 NBA Finals MVP Award to Andre Iguodala. After multiple Finals MVP voters and an NBA representative debunked Wright's version of events, Wright apologized. Wright's negative opinion on Andrew Wiggins as a basketball player also received pushback particularly after the Golden State Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals, with Wiggins serving as the team's second-leading scorer.

Wright began co-hosting his What's Wright? podcast with his son, Damonza Byrd, in 2022. Wright's podcast was originally signed under Fox Sports, but later signed onto Cowherd's podcast network, The Volume. While discussing Draymond Green on Cowherd's eponymous podcast, Wright disclosed that he himself is a Klutch client.

In August 2024, Wright successfully lobbied FS1 management to hire Danny Parkins, a Chicago radio host and close personal friend of his from their days at Syracuse, for their new morning show Breakfast Ball. Wright later signed a contract extension with Fox Sports in October. Wright would make his second appearance in June 2021 where it was announced that he would be playing in PokerGO's High Stakes Duel III against Phil Hellmuth on July 28, 2021. It was also revealed that Wright would appear in the upcoming Season 13 of PokerGO's Poker After Dark, alongside poker professionals Hellmuth, Maria Ho, and Daniel Negreanu, as well as mixed martial arts announcer Bruce Buffer. Wright also entered in events at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Public image and reception Wright's sports comment has received both praise and criticism from media outlets, who have discussed his transparent fandom; most notably, he is a fan of his hometown Kansas City Chiefs and basketball player LeBron James. Media writers have also noted Wright's willingness to discuss social and political issues within a broader sports-related context.

Kyle Koster of The Big Lead wrote, "Part of [Wright's] shtick is not pretending he checks fandom at the door (see: his LeBron James love affair). That's what helps him connect with viewers who, by and large, are sports fans themselves, grappling with the same biases." Meanwhile, Complexs Aaron Mansfield wrote, "First Things First is actually enjoyable, reasonable sports talk, and Wright is a big reason for that," and opined that "[Wright] knows how to build a convincing argument behind statistics." Writing a story on Wright's 2024 contract extension, Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports cited "several well-sourced TV executives" who viewed Wright as the "future of FS1".

Personal life Wright and his wife have one child together, and he has adopted his wife's two children from previous relationships. Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas is a personal friend of Wright's from high school and later officiated the renewal of his marriage vows. Meanwhile, Wright has developed relationships with Chiefs personnel and players. The team's general manager Brett Veach has called Wright following playoff victories and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes once sent Wright bottle service at a Kansas City club during a Super Bowl celebration which Wright spent partying with tight end Travis Kelce.