Erin Andrews on the inspiration for her fashion line and how the NFL has handled COVID-19

Fox NFL Sideline Reporter and WEAR by Erin Andrews founder and CEO Erin Andrews joins the On the Move panel to discuss her clothing line and the latest with the NFL.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Well, of course, the NFL has had a rocky season thus far. We've had, what, about a dozen games that have had have been rescheduled directly because of cases of coronavirus. But it's created ripple effects throughout the league and this schedule. Let's talk about that and also about her clothing line. Erin Andrews is joining us now. She's Fox NFL sideline reporter and WEAR by Erin Andrews founder and CEO.

I do want to talk about your clothing in just a second, but--

ERIN ANDREWS: Yep.

JULIE HYMAN: I've got to get your take, Erin, on what has been happening thus far in the NFL, obviously in sharp contrast to the NBA which very successfully executed its bubble strategy. Is it too late for the NFL to sort of course correct here?

ERIN ANDREWS: Well, first of all in NBA and NHL, they both were in a bubble. I actually have to say I don't agree with you saying that it's been a rocky season. Listen. We're dealing with a virus that not a lot of people know much about, and I actually think the NFL has handled this just fine. I mean, I'm not a player. I'm not a coach. I'm not an owner. But in terms of a broadcaster and how they've said this is going to be a day to day to hour by hour situation-- I mean, we actually have our game on Thursday Night Football moved to Monday, and I mean, this happened in baseball obviously during their-- when their regular season getting ready for the off-season.

So I don't think it's been rocky at all. I think they're doing the best they can. I applaud the networks for doing the best they can in trying to shuffle this, you know. You're not going to have a situation that's perfect unless you're in a bubble. And for right now, that doesn't work for the NFL and for baseball. So I applaud the league, and I applaud the networks for what they're trying to do.

DAN ROBERTS: Erin, Dan Roberts here. To stick with how the NFL has handled the COVID situation, can you just tell us a little bit about how it has affected doing your job? I imagine it's been a lot harder because being a sideline reporter, they've made you stay off the sideline, be in the bleachers, and also, you know, harder to really get the inside scoop on injury reports and stuff like that. Talk to us a little bit about how you've adjusted.

ERIN ANDREWS: Yeah, my role has changed a bit, as everybody's role. I mean, you know, before games, normally myself, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, we would go down to the field, speak to players, speak to coaches, pregame kind of get some last-minute information that we're not able to get anymore. But you know what? I think all of us are just so grateful that we're back to work, that we're playing, that we'll do anything that we need to do to adjust.

So like you mentioned, I am in the stands of the stadiums. I'm in the front row which, you know, the vision is still pretty great. You sit there and you can see everything at once versus where I was on the sidelines where I was over on one side or over on the other. And that was something the Players Association wanted. They wanted to know, you know, who was going to be on the field. They want to be safe, and can you blame anybody at this point? We all want to be safe.

So basically, yeah. You've seen the post-game interviews. Guys are down on the field, we're up at, you know-- up in the front row. But yesterday, for example, with Dak Prescott-- I mean, he goes down in a horrible, horrific injury, and they still had the update that he was being taken via ambulance to the hospital. And they still had the shot of him going into the X-ray room.

That's really all we could do anyways if we were down on the field. You're not going to break the story right then and there that, you know, it was a compound fracture and it was dislocated. The NFL, the NFLPA, and the networks are doing the best they can to kind of accommodate all of us and also be safe at the same time.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Erin, it's Adam Shapiro. Good to have you. Let's talk about your clothing line, WEAR by Erin--

ERIN ANDREWS: Thanks!

ADAM SHAPIRO: --because (LAUGHING) I remember when I was at Fox, Rick Reichmuth, the chief forecaster, launched his line of umbrellas and weather-related clothing.

ERIN ANDREWS: That was smart.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Now we've got you with a line of sports clothing.

ERIN ANDREWS: Yep.

ADAM SHAPIRO: I will not, you know, hit the world with the Adam Shapiro, boring, middle-aged guy line of jackets and ties. But why did you do this? I mean, it is not your primary focus, or is it?

ERIN ANDREWS: Oh, I mean, well primary focus-- I don't think of myself as a fashionista by any ways, but I've been in--you know, working in sports broadcasting for the last 20 years, whether it be college or the NFL. And listen, I've been around a ton of fans. I've been pretty much at every stadium there is. My husband is a retired NHL player, and I just realized that there was a white space.

I'm kind of a girl that likes-- is a bit of a tomboy. I wear gray, black, white. I'm a huge sports fan, but I like, you know, things that are in my closet that are staples. And I feel like women love the hoodies. They love the green utility jacket. So why don't we make it something that people can wear everywhere and anywhere and still cheer for their team? I thought there was this subtle way that we could add a team's logo onto a plaid shirt like you see there or a bomber, especially now with fans not able to be at the stadiums or do tailgating.

They're going to have to cheer for their fans-- or cheer for their teams at home. And I think WEAR allows you to do that, and, oh, by the way, go grab some groceries, drop your kids off at school or daycare if they're able to do that in their state or city. We just thought that there was, you know, a different way we could tackle cheering for your team and being fashionable at the same time. And thank goodness we had a ton of success.

DAN HOWLEY: Hey, Erin, this is Dan Howley. I want to ask, you know, I guess how this kind of comes together with the NFL and yourself and the styling? And I guess, who does the styling? Did you-- did you come up with some of the ideas for the looks? Were there people on the sidelines who were helping with that? How did that come together?

ERIN ANDREWS: Well, I think first of all we looked at kind of what the basics were in my closet-- you know, a jean jacket, a bomber, a utility jacket, a jean shirt, things-- a plaid shirt, things that I like to wear. And we thought, what's a cute way to put the NFL's logo or a team's logo on it so it's not, you know, splattered across your chest, but you could wear it like what you see right there. With a plaid shirt, you could wear it with a white t-shirt.

You could wear it you know just anyway you want, not just screaming, hey I'm a Packers fan here. Hey, I'm a Patriots fan. Be fashionable.

This was really hard to do. It took about five, six years to convince not so much the league and the manufacturers out there that we were serious, that I was going to put myself behind it. I was going to add, you know, my personal touch to it. I was going to add, you know, my voice to it because that's something I think the league and a group like fanatics wanted to see. How much was I invested? Not just put my name on it and be around.

We do have a couple of designers that work on it from us. I am listening to what fans say, a lot of players wives as well. I'm a player's wife-- well, retired player's wife-- so I know what I think was missing in that world. But yes, it did take a lot of time. I am trying to learn all about patience with this kind of stuff, which has been hard. But it's been an interesting ride no doubt.

DAN ROBERTS: Erin, just to zoom out one last time here while we have you. You know, another interesting thread we're following in terms of the business of the NFL this year, and really all sports, is that live TV ratings as of now are down across the board, and that's interesting after a [AUDIO OUT] starved for love of sports. The NFL, the NBA saw it with the finals-- halfway through game three of the NBA Finals was like an all-time low.

And everyone has a different take on why that is. Maybe it's too much live sports all at once. Maybe it's too much going on in the larger world-- the pandemic, the election. I'm curious what you think is going on.

ERIN ANDREWS: Well, I can't speak to other people. I have to say, I do check our ratings on Fox, and we've been doing very, very well. And actually I'm in close contact with the guy at Fox that actually runs all that and kind of gives us the data and information. Our Thursday night game with the Patri-- sorry, wow I was thinking of Tom-- the Bucks and the Bears was up from last year. And I know our America's Game of the Week with the Saints and the Bucks was up quite as well. So we were very happy with our ratings. So I can't really speak to that.

But I know the one thing that we were looking forward to with Fox in getting back on air is football is a way to connect you with your family and your friends, and people are dying for that connection right now. They want it so badly, and I know it's-- that's my favorite thing with sports is it's a connection with my dad. And, you know, the big game we have this weekend with Tampa Bay and Green Bay visiting, so on our end we're very happy with the way it's gone for us.