Lauren "Elle" Duncan (born April 12, 1983) is an American sports anchor for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
.
Career
Atlanta
Duncan began her career in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
as an intern with the
2 Live Stews
The ''2 Live Stews'' was an American syndicated sports talk radio show originating from WQXI (AM) 790 The Zone, in Atlanta, Georgia hosted by brothers Doug and Ryan Stewart.
The hosts and cast
Both brothers were born and raised in Moncks Corne ...
, an American syndicated sports talk radio show on
790/The Zone.
After a year, she was hired by Atlanta host, Ryan Cameron, to join the Ryan Cameron Show on
V-103
WVEE (103.3 FM, "V-103") is a commercial radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an urban contemporary radio format. WVEE is one of the highest-rated stations of the Atlanta radio market according to Nielsen Aud ...
.
While there, her roles included traffic reporter and on-air personality.
Duncan hosted an afternoon show at the station in 2009 before moving to handle sports reporting for the morning Frank and Wanda show. During her time with V-103, Duncan also was a contributor with the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
radio network pre- and post-game shows, the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...
sideline reporter, and a freelance sideline reporter for
SEC and
ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
football games on Comcast Sports South.
Duncan landed a job as the traffic reporter at
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north en ...
in 2012.
Boston
Duncan joined
NESN
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports network, regional sports cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which ow ...
in 2014 as an anchor, reporter, and host. Duncan began co-hosting NESN Live Presented by Cross Insurance with Sarah Davis. The show features updates from NESN reporters and game-day analysis from
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...
,
TD Garden
TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has been k ...
, and
Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Footb ...
. While at NESN, Duncan has also worked as a sideline reporter for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and hosted coverage of
Super Bowl XLIX
Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conf ...
between the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
and
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
from
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325.
History
In the la ...
.
ESPN
Duncan joined ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' as an anchor on April 27, 2016.
She hosts the weekday 6pm ET edition of ''SportsCenter'' with Kevin Negandhi.
FCL
Duncan joined the hosts of American talk show ''
FishCenter Live
''FishCenter Live'' (also shortened to ''FishCenter'' or ''FC Live'' or just ''FCL'') was an American talk show hosted by Dave Bonawits, Andrew Choe, Matt Harrigan, Christina Loranger, and Max Simonet. It premiered on the official website of Ad ...
''.
Film
Duncan appeared in the 2014 movie ''
Ride Along
A ride-along is an arrangement for a civilian to spend a shift in the passenger seat of an emergency vehicle, observing the work day of a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic.
Ride-alongs are offered by many police departments around the wor ...
'' as a news reporter.
DUI arrest
While working as an 11Alive traffic reporter and Atlanta Hawks sideline reporter, Duncan was arrested for
DUI
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
and reckless driving on April 28, 2013. According to the written report by the arresting officer, Duncan was observed "weaving in and out of traffic in a reckless manner" at a "high rate of speed," and "narrowly" missed striking another vehicle. Her breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.099, above the legal limit of 0.08.
Philanthropic efforts
Duncan has been involved with Walker, a non-profit leader in special education, behavioral health and residential treatment for children and youth. Specifically, Duncan has been involved with Walker’s ''Change Shoes, Change Lives'' Run and Walk and engaged with Walker’s youth through on-campus volunteering and events through NESN’s employee volunteer program, ''NESN Connects''.
While at V-103, Duncan launched a Cause & Effect series to recognize a number of local nonprofit organizations quarterly. The series consisted of different events throughout Atlanta that raised funds for underexposed nonprofit organizations. Duncan has also worked as a spokeswoman with Enchanted Closet, an organization which provides prom dresses, shoes, and accessories to disadvantaged girls for prom.
Girl Dad
On January 27, 2020, the evening after the
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...
helicopter crash
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, Elle Duncan hosted ESPN's flagship program ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' and gave an emotional, heartwarming account of a conversation she had with Bryant two years earlier at an ESPN event in New York City, where Bryant told her: "I'm a girl dad". It started a national trend for the hashtag "Girl Dad" featuring pictures and accounts of daughters and their dads.
Accolades
*Top 25 Women in Atlanta – The Steed Society
*2011 Inspiring Women Award –
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
*Atlanta's Top 30 under 30 – AUC Magazine
*50 Most Beautiful Atlantans – Jezebel Magazine
*Power 40 Under 40 It List – Johnson Media
References
External links
Elle Duncanon
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Elle
African-American television hosts
American television journalists
African-American television personalities
American television sports anchors
Disney people
ESPN people
Living people
People from Atlanta
African-American women journalists
American sports journalists
1983 births
American women television journalists
African-American sports journalists
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American women
American women sportswriters
University of West Georgia alumni