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Ep. 27: Erin Andrews discusses NFL life and entrepreneurship

November 23, 2021

Erin Andrews will tell you that she had career ambitions to be in TV sports ever since she was very young.. She mentions the moment she first spoke up about it while watching basketball with her.

“My dad was a great storyteller and he’d tell me all about the Celtics, and stories Larry Bird and Kevin McHale,” Andrews said. “Then one time we were watching NBA on NBC, and I just said, ‘Dad, I want to do this.’”

By the end of high school her friends were signing her yearbook with “see you on ESPN!” and wishing her well as a future as a household TV sports name. 

“I was obsessed with the idea so much that I had no Plan B. Failure wasn’t an option.” Andrews adds that seeing her dad, an Emmy-winning TV journalist, on the evening news made her ambitions feel realistic and “not at all weird.”

Andrews started her TV sports career as a Tampa Bay Lightning reporter from 2001 to 2002 and then moved to Atlanta, to cover the Braves and other big four sports teams for Turner. Ever since joining ESPN in 2004, Andrews has been a household name among football fans.

In 2012, she switched from ESPN over to FOX Sports to become part of the NFL game day broadcast with hosts Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

Andrews brand ‘WEAR’ is all about fandom

Andrews had an idea for a sportswear brand that would be classy and offer variety. And prior to launching WEAR by Erin Andrews in 2019, she wasn’t so impressed with what was out there for sports diehards like her.  

” I always felt like there was an open space for women to cheer on their team but look fashionable as well. There was always just the same kind of stuff—either oversized jerseys or the bedazzled look with all pink stuff.”

Originally launched with only licensed NFL products, WEAR also has expanded its lines to include the NBA and NHL, as well as select NCAA schools. With online retailer Fanatics as its main partner and backer, WEAR by Erin Andrews more than doubled its sales after its first year.

The collection is made up mainly of jackets, t-shirts and sweatshirts, leggings, crop tops, button-down shirts, plus loungewear and sleepwear of 18 different styles. The brand offers something for fans of over 100 different sports teams throughout its partnerships with sports leagues. 

In Episode 27 of the podcast, Erin Andrews talks at length about her formative years as a sports fan and TV hopeful, and details what its like reporting from a very busy, sometimes tumultuous NFL sideline.

Andrews also talks about WEAR by Erin Andrews and shed light on how she established and launched the sports- and leisurewear brand.

Read my most recent Forbes.com story on Erin Andrews here.

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