Sports broadcaster Erin Coscarelli

While covering a variety of sports on the way to a pair of plum TV gigs, Erin Coscarelli has helped pave the way for women in a particularly male-dominated corner of the broadcasting world.

Fans of the recently minted Las Vegas Raiders have been tuning in to Erin Coscarelli since the team officially made the leap from Oakland in 2020. A year later, Coscarelli signed on as a co-host of ABC’s popular “The Ultimate Surfer.” Having blazed a trail in sports broadcasting, she has deftly navigated a field dominated by men. But the path to success hasn’t always been smooth, and she has faced her share of personal and professional challenges along the way.

Born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, Coscarelli says her Italian heritage played a major role in her upbringing.

“I’m a second-generation Italian American,” she shares. “My grandfather, Joseph Coscarelli, immigrated to the United States from Calabria. He settled in Michigan, where he worked as a tailor before moving to Los Angeles, where my dad, Bob, was raised.”

In the face of pervasive and glaring stereotypes, Coscarelli always sought to shine a positive light on her ethnicity and family. “When I was young, I was so proud to represent Italia,” she says. “I was the kid who had the Italia sweatshirt in class.”

Coscarelli learned to be a fierce competitor from an early age, which prepared her for the trials she would face later in life. “I was the baby of the family,” she says. “When you have two older brothers, you’re trying to constantly get their attention and impress them. I blame them for my obsession with competition and sports.”

Coscarelli credits her mother, Linda, with teaching her to never give up, even when all may seem lost. “In my junior high yearbook, the quote below my picture was, ‘Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle,’” she says. “My mom was battling breast cancer at that time. I was really scared. The more we can be vulnerable and share things we’re going through, we may have the opportunity to help make it get better.”

Her mother survived the ordeal, and Coscarelli went forth to earn a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Southern California.

She began her broadcasting career as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports West, the Pac-12 Network and NBC Sports Network. She also covered the World Series of Poker and the Summer X Games for ESPN.

As an anchor and reporter for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, she covered the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants and other professional sports teams. In addition, she hosted several shows for the NFL Network and DirecTV on her way to her current positions.

During her rise through the ranks of sports broadcasting, Coscarelli’s beloved brothers passed away.

Broadcasting involves two versions of yourself, according to Coscarelli: who you are and what you’re projecting in front of the camera.

“The thing about being a broadcaster is that you really must be good at compartmentalizing. Whether you’re struggling with a breakup or a death in the family, we’re doing a good job if they don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes,” says Coscarelli. “It was especially tough for me to focus after I lost my two brothers.”

In walking that tightrope, Coscarelli came to realize she was neglecting herself in the process. Adding to the stress was the additional challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated world.

“You need to be more prepared than the male you’re working with,” she explains. “If I get a stat or a pronunciation wrong, I’m given less grace than my male counterpart. There is a lot of pressure to look and talk a certain way. Not a lot of people know what it’s like to be in that seat.”

Coscarelli wishes she’d had a female mentor to guide the younger version of herself through her career. As a result, she has gone out of her way to provide support to women in various professions.

“For me, the women’s initiative is peeling back a layer of myself to let younger women know my stories and my failures,” she says. “I want them to know if they’re feeling this way, they’re not alone.”

During the height of the pandemic, Coscarelli created a live segment on her Instagram account titled “Women Crush Wednesday.” Each week, she interviews women in business and other professions around the world, allowing them to share their stories with more than 100,000 followers.

“Women are a large part of the demographic who own small businesses in the United States,” she says. “Whether it’s owning a restaurant, a coffee company or a brewery, I wanted these women to have exposure from my platform. The pandemic was especially hard on those who owned small businesses, so I’m happy to highlight these incredible women.”

Positive feedback on her Instagram segments motivated Coscarelli to expand her women’s initiative to include wellness services. “When you build it, they will come,” she says. “My best friend, Erica Cedeno, and I collaborated to create the ‘Love Yourself Women Wellness Retreat.’”

Held at a private residence in Los Angeles, the retreats offer a day of self-care that includes yoga, meditation and personal development sessions. Each guest leaves with a gift bag containing items provided by female-owned businesses.

Coscarelli needed all the self-care she could muster last year. While the Raiders were going through one of the most tumultuous seasons in team history, she was grappling with chaos in her personal life, as well. “As the Raiders were going through instability, my father was fighting for his life,” she says. “I was trying to advocate for my father every day in the hospital.”

Coscarelli’s father ultimately lost his battle with cancer. Although she considers 2021 to be the hardest year of her life, Coscarelli has found solace in helping others who are going through similar experiences.

“One of the things that helps heal me through this journey is authentically sharing my story with someone who’s also going through it: helping others feel less alone, especially with all we’ve been through collectively these past two years,” she says. “We need to lean on one another. That’s why I’m invested in empowering women, because I didn’t have that when I started broadcasting.”

As she prepares for the 2022 football season in Las Vegas, Coscarelli continues to uplift women across the Los Angeles area. In the process, she’s honoring an important part of who she is.

“When you have such a proud heritage, you want to represent it the right way,” she says. “Having the last name Coscarelli means so much to me because of what it represents. I always want to make my parents proud.”

The above appears in the May 2022 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.