In contrast to the moniker of the podcast she co-hosts, Erin Andrews isn’t “calming down.” But when it comes to the seemingly endless personal and business brand-building work Andrews has going on, she’s making the effort.
In late August, the Fox Sports NFL sideline reporter was gearing up for the new football season, which for Andrews includes hosting duties for the America’s Game of the Week. She was also in the midst of negotiating a deal with the National Hockey League for Wear by Erin Andrews, the line of sports fan apparel for women she introduced in October 2019. Lastly, Andrews is quick to add that she is “cranking out” podcast episodes every Thursday with her fellow Fox Sports broadcaster and friend and Charissa Thompson.
True, in July 2020, a gap appeared in her still busting-at-the-seams schedule. After a decade of co-hosting Dancing with the Stars, ABC dropped Andrews—along with Tom Bergeron, who had co-hosted the primetime celebrity talent contest since its inception in 2005—citing a desire to go in a “different creative direction,” according to various reports.
Andrews mused that “a shiny, new game show might be fun.” But she quickly cut off her questioner anticipating the topic of Jeopardy! and its vacant (again) host slot being suggested.
“No, not Jeopardy!—I’m not interested in that role at all. Please quote me on that,” Andrews said.
Still, don’t be surprised if another game show announces Andrews as the master of ceremonies. Scripted entertainment is another possibility for her. You know it all sounds like too much when even the management team tries dissuading her from taking on more and more.
“My team constantly asks me, ‘When are you going to fit another show in?’ I’m like, ‘Well, we fit it in when I did Dancing,’ so let’s do it.”
Playing to her strengths
No matter what new role presents itself, Andrews is strict about keeping to the skills and interests she’s known for, whether it’s broadcasting, podcasting or managing her sportwear line (which is currently sold through Fanatics and the NFL’s respective ecommerce shops). Everything Andrews does comes down to whether it conforms to the personal brand she’s nurtured since her career’s earliest days, when she was an ESPN correspondent in 2004.
Andrews’ Wear clothing line for women is a prime example of how she’s distilled her personality into a product. Expanding from the NFL deal two years ago, Wear signed contracts with the NBA and select NCAA schools in 2020. While she didn’t release exact sales figures, Andrews told Adweek that Wear’s revenue was up 200% in 2020. Similar growth is expected into 2022, as more NCAA teams and another major league are added.
Ignored no longer
The inspiration for Wear came from her student sports fan days at the University of Florida. Her own fashion tastes always gravitated to team logos, particularly football and hockey. Traveling with her husband, retired pro hockey player Jarret Stoll, provided additional impetus for starting an apparel brand aimed at women.
“During my travels when my husband was playing, I increasingly noticed that sports apparel options for women was lacking,” she said. “There was so much available for men. I thought, why should women sports fans have to wear their brothers’, husbands’ or guy friends’ clothes?”
The spark for Wear ignited during Super Bowl 50. She was having dinner with former New York Giants defensive end and current TV personality Michael Strahan, a friend and co-owner of her management company. It just so happened Strahan has a clothing label.
The one thing you don’t realize is how much I am involved—in everything.
—Erin Andrews
“We were having a ton of drinks and food at dinner—and that’s where some of the best ideas are born,” Andrews said. “I just told them, ‘You guys, this is a no-brainer. I’ve worked in every single sport. I have the reach. And I could relate to these women sports fans.’”
Recalibrating ‘all-in’
Over the next five years, Andrews and her management team worked hard to get in front of manufacturing companies and apparel brands. While executives in the clothing business acknowledged the void in women’s sports fan gear, no one was ready to jump in, Andrews said.
Until she met with Michael Rubin, the head of sports merchandising licensing operator Fanatics. And yes, it was at another Super Bowl party.
Rubin told Andrews that many people had come to him with this idea. His resistance came down to one question.
“He asked me directly, ‘Would you actually be involved? Because if this is going to work, it can’t just be your name. You have to be involved,’” Andrews recalled. “If you don’t work with me, the one thing you don’t realize is how much I am involved—in everything. In every aspect. I made him that promise I would be all in. And he gave us this shot.”
“All-in” meant approving designs. It meant reaching out to teams’ front office executives and salespeople. It meant meeting with the players—as well as players’ wives. It meant steering the social media strategy.
But after two years, she’s recognized the limits of being be-all/end-all with Wear. She’s gradually learned to draw a line. She can wait until the end of a negotiation or a design to poke her head in.
“There are certain teams I want us to be carried in their stores, so I’ll call them directly,” Andrews said. “I’ll do things for certain teams because I know that it’s great for the brand. I’m still heavily involved. But I don’t need to have a hand in everything.”
