Dan Rafael is an American sportswriter, who is probably known best for working with ESPN and USA Today. He’s currently working for World Boxing News, and produces his boxing newsletter.
Early life, family, educational background
Dan Rafael was born on 25 August 1970, in Albany, New York State USA. Allegedly, he was raised by his parents, but details about their personal lives are unknown, as they prefer to stay out of the spotlight.
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Dan attended a local high school, and was always interested in journalism and writing. Later, he started studying at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and while there started writing for the school paper. He started by working as an intern for the local newspaper “Press & Sun Bulletin” in Binghamton.
Career
Dan started his career as a sportswriter. He started working at the community newspaper “The Saratogian” in 1993. In the beginning, it was a part-time job, but eventually, he was offered a full-time position. He worked for “The Saratogian” until 1996.
As he gained more experience, he returned to the “Press & Sun Bulletin” in Binghamton as a reporter, mainly covering sports-related and auto-racing events. Eventually, he started writing about the Binghamton Mets, a local baseball team, a position he maintained for four years.
In 1998, he had an opportunity to study and work for the USA Today network, within the Gannett Newspaper Empire program that chose talented writers, and deployed them to Virginia. The program lasted for four months, and after completion, Rafael returned to Binghamton.
Rafael was noticed again by USA Today, and the newspaper hired him as a boxing writer permanently, however, Dan quit after five years, and moved to a more prestigious position. The talented journalist was later noticed by ESPN, who wanted to hire him to place more focus on boxing coverage. In 2005, Rafael joined ESPN.com and worked for them for 15 years, as an online and television journalist, mainly covering boxing events. He also had his blog on which he analyzed important fights. Eventually, he became a senior reporter for the network, and appeared regularly on ESPN shows such as “Friday Night Fights” and “SportsCenter”.
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Unfortunately, ESPN didn’t renew Dan’s contract in 2020 – the reasons behind his departure are unknown. However, in one of his interviews, Rafael mentioned that his release wasn’t related to global pandemics. Even though most of the ing boxmatches were canceled, other issues led ESPN to let him go; the journalist chose not to delve into details. In one of the interviews, he mentioned that he didn’t have negative feelings about leaving the network, in fact, he was excited about his future endeavors. He mentioned that he had seldom taken a vacation throughout his career, and would benefit from additional free time.
After a short break, in 2021 Dan continued his career as a boxing journalist for World Boxing News (WBN), becoming a lead boxing contributor for the website. He also leads his boxing-related newsletter “Fight Freaks Unite”, and is a member of the “Boxing Writers Association of America”.
As a distinguished boxing journalist, in 2013, Dan received the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism.
Personal life, wife Jenn Rafael
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce-6LqKjO98/
Dan Rafael has been married to Jenn Rafael since 2004. Supposedly, they tied the knot in a small ceremony with only family and friends. Jenn is a Jew by choice, and donates to “The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington” in support of the local Jewish community. She graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and Women’s Studies, and since August 2020, she’s been the director of communications and marketing at National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE).
According to her Instagram account, the couple has a kid together, and she often shares photos of their son named Jesse on her feed. He is a member of the “Virginia Ice Theatre”, and participates in tournaments as an ice skater. Jenn seems to be a proud mom who captures the success of her son avidly.
#trsrsrocks pic.twitter.com/jbezFV65t8
— Jenn Rafael (@JennRafael1) September 23, 2018
Jenn supports her husband’s career, frequently retweeting his new endeavors. Unlike his wife, Dan doesn’t share his personal life on social media – even though he has over 286,000 followers on Twitter and more than 4,000 fon Instagram, he mainly uses these platforms to promote his work.
The couple hasn’t talked about their relationship publicly, however, they seem to have a strong bond that has lasted for 18 years.
Hobbies, favorite things, and interesting facts
In one of his interviews, Dan stated that boxing isn’t just part of his career, it’s also his hobby. He shares his collection of boxing posters on his Instagram feed.
Dan loves traveling and exploring the cuisines of other countries. He’s visited multiple states and countries throughout his career, getting the chance to get to know various cultures.
The journalist also loves giving back to the community, and supporting those in need. He collaborates with several charities, including animal shelters.
Appearance, clothing style
Dan is 51 years old. When he was younger, he had brown hair and a brown beard, but now has short grey hair, a grey beard and grey mustache, and brown eyes – he’s been wearing eyeglasses for a long time. He has a height of 5ft 5ins (165cm) and a weight of 175lbs (80kgs). As a reporter, he usually wears classic suits, shirts and ties. Occasionally, he might also wear casual clothes.
Net worth and salary
As of mid-2022, Dan Rafael’s net worth is estimated at close to $1 million; according to sources, his annual salary is approximately $100,000, and his primary source of income is his job as a boxing journalist, reporter, and contributor. Even though he has a personal newsletter, it doesn’t seem to be contributing to his earnings. The salary of his wife Jenn Rafael hasn’t been revealed to the public. Regardless of his annual salary, Dan doesn’t seem to lead a lavish lifestyle. Information about his real estate or movable properties is unknown.
