Before October 2023, Kimberly Bates had never set foot in Wisconsin. Fast forward to now: she’s the digital voice behind one of Milwaukee’s favorite sports teams (and a full-on advocate for the city she never saw coming).
Originally from Iowa, Kimberly landed in Milwaukee after accepting a role as Director of Digital Content for the Milwaukee Admirals—a job that essentially makes her the team’s in-house storyteller, meme-maker, and player-whisperer.
“My main objective is to connect fans and the community with our hockey team and the individual players, while showing the human side of them that you can’t find on a stat sheet or game summary,” she says. “We’re very serious about what we do, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Her path wasn’t always pointing toward hockey. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Kimberly got her start covering baseball and women’s sports for the campus TV station and newspaper. She had her sights set on MLB (think Lauren Shehadi with a Midwestern edge). But the pandemic shifted her view of sports and storytelling, and a pivot to social media landed her first in Phoenix, then with the Springfield Cardinals, and finally here in Milwaukee.
“I wouldn’t trade any of the mistakes or moves I’ve made. Every step taught me something,” she says.
Something about Milwaukee most people overlook, but she thinks is gold?
“The history and the culture. And the neighborhood dive bars. This city is a gold mine of great stories rooted in Milwaukee’s history. Humans of New York has nothing on MKE.”
When she’s not behind the screen making fans laugh (or cry) with wholesome content, she’s advocating for local animal rescues like MADACC, HAWS, and Thrifted Kittens.
“I’m a big animal advocate. It takes every single one of us to save the voiceless. <3”
Her favorite move so far? Leaving her comfort zone—and her home state—to chase work that makes her excited to wake up.
“Being the long-distance daughter and friend is hard sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade my experiences for the world.”
Oh, and if you’re visiting? She’s taking you to the tiki bar first.