Mitch Holthus, known as the “Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs,” will be this year’s guest speaker for Kanza Coop’s annual members meeting. The meeting will be held Thursday, April 5, 2018 at the Pratt Municipal Building located at 117 West 3rd St. Pratt, KS 67124. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. and the meal will begin at 6:00 p.m. A short business meeting and presentation by Holthus will follow. We look forward to seeing all of our members at this year’s meeting!
Mitch Holthus has been the “Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs” since 1994. He is the longest tenured play-by-play “voice” in franchise history. In addition to his play-by-play duties, Holthus also hosts the “Minute With Mitch” television series that is seen and heard in five states. Holthus also hosts the “Chiefs Insider” television show. Following the NFL season, Holthus is a television play-by-play talent for selected college basketball games.
His talents have been featured on ESPN, FOX, and other national outlets. He is an announcer for the Missouri Valley Conference and for the Big 12 network basketball. He received the prestigious John Sanders ‘Spirit of the Valley’ award in 2007 and the Joe McGuff ‘Sports Journalist of the Year’ in 2010.
For 13 years, Holthus was the play-by-play voice of the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. He has been named “Kansas Sportscaster of the Year” eight times. He has also been named the top play-by-play sportscaster in Kansas nine times by the Kansas Association Broadcasters. In 1996, he was awarded the Hod Humiston Award of Excellence in Kansas Sportscasting. As a result, he is the youngest sportscaster in Kansas’s history to receive every major sportscasting award. For 10 years, Holthus was also the sales manager of the Wildcat Sports Network. He currently owns his own company that features talent, marketing and motivational services.
He is a past President of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and currently serves on its Board of Directors. In addition, he is on the Board of Trustees of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. In October 2008, Holthus was inducted into the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In 2012 the Kansas City Chiefs production crew, 65 Toss Power Trap Productions, garnered 11 Regional Emmy® Awards from the NATAS Mid-America Chapter including an Emmy for Mitch Holthus for on-camera talent: Performer/Host.
Holthus is a 1979 graduate of Kansas State University with a degree in journalism. He received a degree in business administration from K-State in 1980. He is married to the former Tami Johnson of McPherson, Kansas, a former K-State women’s basketball player. They have two children, Brian and Hayley. Holthus is a native of Smith Center, Kansas.