Erin Andrews Is ‘All Business’ About Sports—And The Female Fan Too

If you ask Erin Andrews about her love of sports she’ll tell you that there was never a time, even as a young child, that sports were not a big part of her life. She mentions the moment she first spoke up about it being a career.

Andrews says the conversation came up while watching basketball with her father, Steven Andrews, a TV journalist and avid Boston Celtics fan.

“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, Andrews said that friends were signing her senior yearbook with sentiments such as “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.”

After a first stint as a Tampa Bay Lightning reporter from 2001 to 2002, Andrews later covered the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Thrashers, and Atlanta Hawks for the Turner, as a studio host and reporter. Ever since Andrews joined ESPN, in 2004, to cover hockey and then football, she’s been a known as national figure.

Eventually after eight years with ESPN, Andrews joined Fox Sports, in 2012, to become part of FOX Sports’ NFL broadcasts, with hosts Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Now Andrew is arguably the game’s most recognizable sideline reporter, and it’s a job she loves, despite its very fast pace and very noisy nature.

“I always have 8,000 things going on in my head, so it’s probably the perfect environment for me,” Andrews said. “I have an earpiece in, I have to be fully aware of the action on the sidelines, but also know what Joe and Troy are saying up in the booth. Plus, I’ve got my producer in my ear, and there are a lot of voices going on all the time, alongside the action of the game.”

Balancing it all, it’s no wonder then that Erin Andrews has had such success in TV and not just as a sports talking head. Some of America’s most avid television watchers—the ones not so much into sports—primarily know Andrews from other TV roles, such as her time as co-host of ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars (from 2014 to 2019). This Thursday, Andrews will host a two-hour special for animal lovers called the World Pet Games at 8 PM EST on FOX.

Outside television, Andrews is busy with her own business too. In 2019, Andrews launched WEAR by Erin Andrews. 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.

“We’re trying to grow and educate (the industry) about what the female fan wants,” Andrews says of her sportswear enterprise. “In my world, she makes up 50% of the (sports fan) demographic.”

Partnering with American online retailer Fanatics, WEAR by Erin Andrews more than doubled its sales after its first year. The collection is made up 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. 

Last week, I spoke more at length with Andrews about her time on the NFL sideline and in TV, as well as her reasonably new venture in the sportswear business.

(This interview has been edited for length.)

Andy Frye: You’ve done NFL sideline reporting over a decade now. Is it as wild and in-flux as it looks when you appear on TV?

Erin Andrews: Sometimes I stop and think to myself, “this is going so fast” and I have to figure out just what I need to focus on.

Take last Thursday night (Nov. 11) I had the Ravens game, versus Miami. Lamar Jackson and the offense really had nothing going on and couldn’t adjust. Miami’s blitzing non-stop.

A lot of my focus is on Lamar Jackson. He’s clearly frustrated, and I’m looking at what Joe and Troy can’t see. I see him come off the field, throw his helmet down, then the trainers are picking it up, trying to screw something back on. And I’m telling our truck, “he just threw his helmet” and that’s how pissed off he was.

Sometimes, I kind of like to think I’m like the FBI or a private eye. There are a lot of little things that I’m reading that you can’t see on TV.

AF: Considering that sports is your life, was it the driving force behind WEAR by Erin Andrews?

Andrews: Yeah, I’ve been a fan of sports forever. But 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. And I just felt like women needed more options to be fashionable and be a big fan at the same time.

So in 2019, we created our first line with the NFL and had a lot of success. Then it expanded right way to the NBA, NCAA and NHL.

VIDEO: Erin Andrews reveals her pre-game rituals to Kelly Clarkson.

AF: You’re national known, but was it an uphill climb to be taken seriously as new business person in sports apparel?

Andrews: Yes. I am lucky enough to be on one of the main sports networks, and when I was asked to do a talk on women fans and NFL apparel, I think it was just getting people to listen. I get to interview top players and I have an audience, and access.

But for the first five or six years, I had people say “it sounds like a good idea” but a lot of pushback from pro shops about their customers, who weren’t sure if it would work for them.

Finally, Fanatics and (CEO) Michael Rubin gave me a shot and showed a huge interest. But also the Dallas Cowboys and the Jones Family–Charlotte Jones has been unbelievable to me and hosted an event for me at her house. The Hunt Family with the Kansas City Chiefs are wearing my sweaters (during) the AFC Championship last year. Then also, Gisele Bündchen FaceTiming me from her suite in Tampa, and Camille Kostek, Rob Gronkowski’s girlfriend putting it on Instagram. They’ve all been supportive and great from the beginning.

AF: You hosted Dancing with the Stars. As a Chicago Cubs fan I have to ask what was it like to work with David Ross on DWTS?

Andrews: He was exactly the kind of person you want on Dancing with the Stars. He’s someone you’d never expect to be on the show. He was a darling—great personality—hard not to cheer for. But this is why athletes do so well on our show: They’re used to coaching and making adjustments. They are used to taking criticism, and crowds and performing. It’s not a big deal see a camera light on.

David was just so fantastic. And, talk about the Midwest—that was a big audience for Dancing with the Stars. He was a perfect fit and showed improvement every singe week. He shined on that stage.

Read Andy Frye’s interview with Rebecca Lowe of NBC Sports.