Meet the Sideline Reporter Who’s Challenging the Game

The Los Angeles Dodgers are out of the baseball playoffs, but their season wasn’t a total bust. It included no-hitters by pitching ace Clayton Kershaw and Josh Beckett, exuberant play from Cuban phenom Yasiel Puig, steals from speedster Dee Gordon, and the debut of Alanna Rizzo. The 39-year-old sportscaster stood out on the sidelines—and not just because she’s a woman. 

Rizzo’s rookie year at Time Warner Cable SportsNet LA marks the beginning of her second career. In her late twenties, Rizzo left an unfulfilling sales and marketing job to pursue her dream of being in front of the camera. Now the savvy reporter is proving just how important it is to have strong women at the center of professional sports, especially as women—and domestic violence—are pushed onto center stage.

It’s not easy for anyone to break into the world of sports journalism—but a woman in her 30s? Rizzo carved an hour out of her busy schedule to tell me just how she made the leap.

RB: What made you want to be a sportscaster?

AR: I participated in track and cross-country in high school, and gymnastics to a certain extent. I wasn’t a college athlete (I wasn’t good enough to be on the University of Colorado teams), but I have always had a passion for sports. I am pretty one-dimensional—there’s not much I know a lot about except sports!

RB: Did you grow up in a household of sports fans?

AR: I remember my dad and I always watching Broncos games together. I don’t have a ton of memories with my dad, but I do have that. Until this day, the one thing I can say we all agree on in my family is our love for the Denver Broncos.

RB: Going back to school at 28 is a pretty big risk—what made you do it?

AR: I wanted to do something that didn’t feel like a job, so I entered the master’s program at the University of Colorado. At the time I didn’t know what a beat was, let alone what kind of career I could have in sports journalism. My first job on air was in Wichita Falls, Texas. I was making $15,800 a year—it wasn’t a very lucrative position and I had very adult bills. From there, I went to the CBS affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin and covered the University of Wisconsin and the Green Bay Packers. Later, I got a job with the network that covers the Colorado Rockies, and my goal at the time was to get back to Colorado. But the MLB Network called. That exposure, at the national level, made the Dodgers to call. You never know what path you are going to take—sometimes the path choses you.

RB: What do you tell someone inspired by your story, someone interested in following in your footsteps?

AR: Get outside of your comfort zone, learn the business, make mistakes, and pay your dues. You have to make sacrifices to be in this business: I don’t get nights and weekends off; I don’t get holidays off during the summer. (That being said, it’s a wonderful job, it’s a lot of fun, and I’m blessed to have it.)

RB: As a woman in the male-dominated field of professional sports, do you feel you have to speak up for women? Especially given what’s going on in the NFL right now.

AR: I feel my responsibility is making sure that I’ve done my homework, that I know the game, that I ask intelligent questions, and that I present myself in an appropriate manner. I can show that women do know sports and that women can competently do these jobs just as well as their male counterparts—sometimes better than their male counterparts. It’s important to encourage women to get into the industry, and I would also like to encourage hiring directors to really think about who they are hiring. Don’t necessarily look at that person as just a face. I understand that TV is a visual medium, but it is their responsibility to hire the most qualified candidate—not the hottest.

RB: Is there a downside to being a female on the sidelines?

AR: I was wearing something one day that wasn’t Dodger blue and one fan said that he wanted to “sex me up in more Dodger blue.” That is something I deal with on a daily basis. People think they can say whatever they want just because you are on TV and they feel they know you, but they are completely unsolicited and unwarranted comments.

RB: What about the upsides?

AR: With Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter, I knew in the fourth inning. Even my hands were tingling a bit and, sure enough, he threw one of the most efficient no-hitters in the history of the sport. You can’t help but get excited about what you are witnessing; it’s an emotional experience.