AWSM had the Pleasure of Hearing About Taylor Tannebaum’s Role at ACC Network with ESPN
Written by Alexis Lubart
AWSM had the privilege of learning from Taylor Tannebaum at our meeting on April 15. She is a reporter at the ACC Network with ESPN. Currently Tannebaum works as the main football host, and also hosts basketball, baseball, softball and many other sports in Connecticut. She graduated from Florida State University in 2013 and during college, she interned with local TV stations including Channel 7 in Miami, one in Tallahassee and at a public relations firm to better understand different aspects of the sports world. In Huntsville, Alabama, she was a “one man band” and was able to write, shoot, edit and host all of her content. Tannebaum has lived in many different locations including Alabama, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and now Connecticut.
Tannebaum was the first female sports reporter at an Indianapolis game. As the strong woman she is, she broke barriers at that station. She said it was crazy the barrier was not already broken, but she earned the opportunity to be in that room. Tannebaum shared that she has to remind herself she can hold her own and she deserves to be in this space. She is extremely thankful for the men who allowed her to break down this barrier and give her this opportunity.
Obtaining the job she has currently took her a lot of skill, but in 2022 she reached out to a mutual contact at ESPN, and since then everything has been history. One of her biggest tips for networking as college students is to hone those skills, be better on camera and believe in yourself. Even if you are not eligible for a job yet, she said you shouldn’t let that stop you from gaining knowledge because everyone has been in your shoes. To stand out and keep those connections, Tannebaum recommended doing an interview, assisting at ESPN or going to get coffee for the host. She recommended following up on relationships every six months, showing something new you’ve done, making them feel involved in the journey and feel invested in you, and that they would love to learn from you. The best way to learn about someone is to do a deep dive on them to find something you both have in common as a talking point.
Next, Tannebaum shared more with us about her preparation and daily life in this job. To prepare for reporting, researchers provide her statistics and she is always watching a game. There are always six televisions playing a game and she is often responsible for multitasking which includes taking notes of highlights, anything big that happens during the game and writing pregame notes about rankings. During games, there's usually a cut-in to talk about a specific play more in depth. The late night shows are just a reaction to the game and it is based more on your personality.
A week in her life during football season is the most consistent time schedule wise. With games on Saturdays, she’s normally on the road when they leave Thursday and starts shows on Friday. Saturday starts at 8:30 a.m. and they aren’t done until 1:30 a.m. the next day. There is a three hour daily show and Sirius XM calls.
Tannebaum voices that social life is the hardest part of the job because you will have to find friends that understand your work schedule. She said you will make friends in the business because you can all relate to each other. Even though you’re tired, you have to push yourself to go out to dinner with the girls on a Friday night. This will help your mental health balance. With this job you might miss weddings, baby showers, bachelorette weekends, babies being born, birthdays and more but you will be happy that you put in the work.
Even with all of the difficulties of being a reporter, Tannebaum said she wouldn’t trade it for anything. Being able to impact so many people is what keeps her going everyday. The advice she shared will stick with our club members for the rest of their lives. We loved hearing Tannebaum’s career path and story!