As a kid growing up in metro Detroit, Brad Galli was surrounded by sports. Whether he was watching Detroit teams win championships or playing backyard baseball with his siblings, he couldn’t get enough. But like most athletes, Galli quickly realized that if he wanted a future in sports, he’d have to find a role beyond playing them.
As a student at Brother Rice, Galli realized he had a knack for being on camera and announcing basketball games. Together, those skills led him to pursue a broadcasting degree at Marquette University. He continued to cover basketball, but his big break in the world of professional sports broadcasting came from a chance encounter while caddying during a storm at Oakland Hills Country Club in 2008.
“One of the people I helped get in a golf cart was Vic Faust, who was a sportscaster at Channel 7 at the time,” Galli says. “He gave me his business card. We kept talking, and months later, I got my first internship with Channel 7.”
Galli spent two summers with the station as an intern and 15 years as an on-air sports reporter covering the teams he grew up rooting for. It was a dream come true. But by the Tigers’ opening day in 2025, Galli’s priorities had shifted, and he realized it was time for a change of scenery — one that involved seeing more of his family.
When he thought about the grueling 12-hour day that came with opening-day coverage, he wondered, “At what point today am I going to see my wife and kids?”
Galli’s passion for bringing the latest sports news to metro Detroiters never faded, but he knew there was a way to provide better content while also being home in time for dinner with his wife, Claire, and his kids, Matthew, 9, and Emma, 8. On June 1, he launched The Brad Galli Show on YouTube and came out swinging — his first interview featured Lions running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and Barry Sanders. Galli says that type of content inspired him to become a reporter in the first place.
“I got into this to be around great athletes, great people, and to tell stories,” Galli says.
And that’s exactly what he plans to do now that he’s independent. Alongside his longtime Channel 7 videographer, Chad Britton, Galli will bring fans up close and personal with Michigan’s biggest sports stars. He will also attend every Lions game, home and away, which he hasn’t been able to do for years.
“I just want to go to more games, and I want to do it for people,” Galli says. “You never know what’s going to happen in this town.”
This story originally appeared in the September 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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