AJ Ricketts | Play-by-Play Broadcaster

From goal-line stands in front of raucous Miami crowds to a bowl victory in the Bahamas, AJ Ricketts has chronicled the last seven seasons of FIU Football, serving as the play-by-play broadcaster for Panther football, basketball and baseball on ESPN+ - one of just two Asian-American broadcasters in the country for an FBS football program. Ricketts also broadcasts college football in The American on ESPN+, and has joined MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, serving as a prominent voice of MLS NEXT Pro in its first two season on the platform, in addition to calling MLS, NWSL, and USL soccer action. He is the only broadcaster in the country to broadcast both soccer on Apple TV and college football & basketball on the ESPN family of networks.

Based in Miami, AJ also contributes to the WatchESPN platform on assignments for ACC Network Extra, broadcasting Miami Hurricanes baseball, track & field, volleyball, and tennis, while serving as an adjunct professor in the FIU School of Communication, creating a new course - 'Sports Broadcasting and Performance'.

Ricketts, a former student-athlete with the 'Canes as a four-year letterman for the Cross Country team, maintains a running presence in the community as the Head Coach of the Riviera Prep XC & Track program and finisher of the Boston and Chicago Marathons. In 2024, Ricketts competed in the Philippine Track and Field Championships.

Ricketts began his television career at WECT/FOX Wilmington in North Carolina. There, he covered UNCW's impressive runs to consecutive NCAA Tournaments under now NC State head coach Kevin Keatts, and earned first place in Sports Reporting at the annual Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC) Awards. In addition to the UNCW and local sports beat, his coverage included numerous ACC Tournaments and storylines throughout the Carolinas. Collegiately at UM, Ricketts also spent two years as the lead play-by-play voice for Miami Hurricanes women's basketball and baseball, serving as the Sports Director for WVUM 90.5 FM.

A Pensacola, FL native, Ricketts has also hosted a coach's show on Bally Sports Florida, broadcast USL and NWSL action on ESPN+, and filled in on calls for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos - now the Miami Marlins AA affiliate, the Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball program, and Nova Southeastern University. He was inducted into Iron Arrow, the highest honor one can receive at the University of Miami, in March of 2015. Ricketts was an active member in the UM Student-Athlete Advisory Committe, and represented Miami at the ACC Meetings in Greensboro, NC. In addition to adjuncting a sports broadcast class in the FIU School of Communication and his involvement with the WECT college internship program, Ricketts has been invited to speak to broadcast students at both the University of Miami and University of North Carolina.