Katie Florio is the rinkside reporter on Pittsburgh Penguins television broadcasts for SportsNet Pittsburgh, announced on 31 August 2026 for the 2026-27 season. Katie Florio spent the two seasons before that covering the Washington Capitals, the Penguins’ fiercest modern rival. She was born 60 miles from Pittsburgh, in Johnstown, where her father played five seasons of professional hockey.
| Fast facts: Katie Florio | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Rinkside reporter on Penguins broadcasts |
| Role | Rinkside reporter, Penguins; occasional sideline reporter and studio host, Pirates |
| Employer | SportsNet Pittsburgh |
| Hometown | Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; high school in Florence, South Carolina |
| Education | Clemson University |
| Previous roles | Washington Capitals on Monumental Sports Network; Colorado Eagles; Rockford IceHogs |
| Hockey connection | Her father, Perry Florio, played five seasons for the Johnstown Chiefs |
What does Katie Florio do for the Pittsburgh Penguins?
Katie Florio reports from ice level on Penguins telecasts and occasionally hosts from the studio, and she occasionally joins the network’s Pittsburgh Pirates coverage as a sideline reporter and studio host. SportsNet Pittsburgh, which is operated with NESN, announced the hire on 31 August 2026, putting her alongside play-by-play voice Josh Getzoff, analysts Colby Armstrong and Phil Bourque and studio host Dan Potash.
The job had been open since June 2026, when the network parted ways with Hailey Hunter after three seasons and said it would run a nationwide search. “Pittsburgh has always felt like home to me,” Florio said in the announcement, pointing to the family still in the area. The channels and streams for every Penguins game are in our guide to how to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Who is Katie Florio’s dad?
Her father is Perry Florio, a defenceman who was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round, 72nd overall, in 1985, and who spent five seasons with the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs. Hockey-DB’s record of those seasons adds up to 305 games, 44 goals, 171 assists and 799 penalty minutes, from 1990-91 to 1994-95. The network’s announcement says he coached professionally for eight years after he stopped playing.
Forty-one years separate Perry Florio’s draft in 1985 and his daughter’s hiring by the Penguins’ television network in 2026, and his last Johnstown season, 1994-95, comes 32 seasons before her first on Penguins telecasts, 2026-27. He told the Tribune-Democrat that of the 32 teams in the league, the one she landed on was the one near where she was born, and called it fate.
What did Katie Florio do before the Penguins?
She wrote about sport at Clemson University before working her way up through minor league baseball and the AHL. She was a communications coordinator and sideline reporter for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, then a digital reporter for the Rockford IceHogs, the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate, and then rinkside reporter and digital media manager for the Colorado Eagles.
The NHL came in 2024, when Monumental Sports Network hired her to cover the Washington Capitals. She hosted pregame, postgame and intermission coverage on Capitals Radio and hosted and produced two team podcasts. The channels for Capitals games are in our guide to how to watch the Washington Capitals.
| Year | Role | Outlet |
|---|---|---|
| College | Sportswriter | The Clemson Insider |
| Final college semester | Broadcast assistant | Minnesota Twins Radio Network |
| 2021 | Communications coordinator and sideline reporter | Pensacola Blue Wahoos |
| About 2021 to 2022 | Digital reporter | Rockford IceHogs |
| About 2022 to 2024 | Rinkside reporter and digital media manager | Colorado Eagles |
| 2024-25 and 2025-26 | Host and reporter, pregame and postgame shows | Monumental Sports Network, Washington Capitals |
| From 2026-27 | Rinkside reporter | SportsNet Pittsburgh, Penguins |
Where is Katie Florio from?
She was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where her father had played for the Chiefs, and the family moved to Virginia while she was an infant for his coaching job with the ECHL’s Roanoke Express. She went to high school at West Florence High School in Florence, South Carolina, and then to Clemson. Her mother is from Pittsburgh, and much of the extended family still lives in the area.
How old is Katie Florio?
Katie Florio has not made her date of birth public, and neither SportsNet Pittsburgh’s announcement nor her agency biography gives an age.
Does she have a Wikipedia page?
No. She does not have a Wikipedia article. The fullest official record of her career sits in her employer’s own announcement and in Monumental Sports Network’s broadcast releases.
