Bio

Joe Kraus is excited to serve as the new Sports Information Director at SUNY Niagara and promote the student-athletes in Sanborn after years of experience working in the Western New York sports media and athletic communications industry.

Kraus most recently spent two years at the Niagara Gazette and covered high school and collegiate sports in Niagara County, including SUNY Niagara. In this role, Kraus selected the all-area teams and wrote player of the year stories for 10 different sports and wrote feature stories and game recaps involving area teams and their students, both past and present. Kraus also traveled to cover Niagara Falls' boys basketball run to the state semifinals in Glens Falls in 2024 and the NYSPHSAA wrestling championships in Albany. 

Kraus also has nearly 15 years of on-air experience as a high school and college sports play-by-play announcer in Western New York. Sports Kraus has provided play-by-play for include men's and women's basketball, hockey, baseball, football, men's and women's lacrosse, softball and men's and women's soccer. Outlets Kraus currently works for include the East Coast Conference Sports Network (Daemen and D'Youville athletics), WNY Athletics & NFHS Network (Section VI, Monsignor Martin, NYSPHSAA contests) and HUDL (Villa Maria College men's and women's basketball). Kraus has also provided commentary for games broadcasted by Buffalo Toronto Public Media, 1340 WLVL in Lockport and Canisius University men's and women's basketball broadcasts on ESPN 3.

Kraus has served as public-address announcer for athletic events at his alma mater, North Tonawanda, for nine years. Following in the footsteps of the late Dick Grapes, Kraus has announced both Lumberjacks football and lacrosse contests at George J. Vetter Stadium. Kraus was also the public-address announcer for SUNY Niagara baseball home games at Sal Maglie Stadium in the 2025 season, where the team finished with a new single-season program record 51 wins and placed fourth at the NJCAA Division III World Series.

Kraus graduated with a Master's degree from the Leadership and Innovation program at Daemen University in September 2022 and wrote a final thesis exploring the role journalists play in crisis situations. During his two years with the Wildcats, Kraus was the graduate assistant in the school's athletic communications department. Along with his play-by-play duties for home basketball games, Kraus wrote game previews, recaps, press releases and feature stories for Daemen's athletic website and was the media relations contact for the women's basketball, men's and women's soccer and women's tennis programs.

Kraus also received an undergraduate degree in Journalism with a concentration in Sports Journalism & Broadcasting from Canisius University in May 2020.

A North Tonawanda resident, Kraus spends his free time listening to all eras of country music and lists Brad Paisley as his favorite artist. Kraus also loves watching live sports and enjoys spending time with his family. Kraus hopes to one day own a Ferrari 250 Cabriolet, the car shown in the opening sequence of the 1960s Get Smart TV series.

Headshot: RobShots Photography