Dale Eugene Hansen (born August 2, 1948) is an American sportscaster, who is currently the weeknight sports anchor during the 6 pm and 10 pm newscasts on ABC's Dallas affiliate WFAA. He also hosts Dale Hansen's Sports Special on Sundays at 10:35 pm, consistently one of the highest-rated local programs in Dallas-Fort Worth. His segment each night garners an audience of over 300,000 people. He also serves as the station's Sports Director.
Hansen began his career in Newton, Iowa as a radio disc jockey and operations manager at KCOB, covering the Newton Cardinals and the Newton Nite Hawks. He then went to Knoxville, Iowa to KNIA radio as News Director. After that he moved to Saint Cloud, Minnesota to KCLD radio. After that he got closer to his hometown of Logan, Iowa by working at a radio station he grew up listening to, KOIL in Omaha, Nebraska. He then took a job as a sports reporter at KMTV also in Omaha. Hansen then took his first job in Dallas at KDFW, which at the time was CBS's Dallas affiliate. He left KDFW and joined WFAA in 1983. Hansen was at 10 pm, and legendary anchor Verne Lundquist was at 6 pm, so WFAA had claimed them to be "Texas' Best Sportcasters."
Hansen made his reputation in 1986 when he and his producer, John Sparks, broke a story about a massive scandal involving payments to players on Southern Methodist University's football team. Hansen's reporting ultimately led to the NCAA canceling the Mustangs' 1987 season—the so-called "death penalty." His reporting of the scandal garnered him a Peabody Award for distinguished journalism, a duPont-Columbia Award, and several death threats.