Lauren "Elle" Duncan (born April 12, 1983) is an American sports anchor for
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
.
Career
Atlanta
Duncan began her career in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
as an intern with the
2 Live Stews, 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.
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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...
sideline reporter, and a freelance sideline reporter for
SEC and
ACC football games on Comcast Sports South.
Duncan landed a job as the traffic reporter at
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
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). The two stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end ...
in 2012. On April 28, 2013, Duncan was arrested for
DUI and reckless driving.
Boston
Duncan joined
NESN
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston ...
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 ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...
,
TD Garden
TD Garden (named the FleetCenter from opening until 2005 and TD Banknorth Garden until 2009) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston. It is located directly above the MBTA's North Station, and it replaced the original Boston Garden upon opening i ...
, and
Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States. The stadium is southwest of Downtown Boston and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and admi ...
. 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
and hosted coverage of
Super Bowl XLIX
Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...
between the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...
from
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...
.
ESPN
Duncan joined ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
'' as an anchor on April 27, 2016.
She hosts the weekday 6pm ET edition of ''SportsCenter'' with
Kevin Negandhi
Kevin Negandhi (born March 20, 1975) is an American sports anchor for ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' as well as ''ESPN College Football on ABC''.
In addition to hosting ''SportsCenter'', he also hosts ''Baseball Tonight'', ''College Football Live'' and ...
.
Film
Duncan appeared in the 2014 movie ''
Ride Along'' as a news reporter.
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 List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...
helicopter crash, Elle Duncan hosted ESPN's flagship program ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
'' and gave an emotional 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 the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...
*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
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Elle
African-American television hosts
American television journalists
African-American television personalities
American television sports anchors
ESPN people
Living people
Mass media people from Atlanta
African-American women journalists
African-American journalists
American sports journalists
1983 births
American women television journalists
African-American sports journalists
21st-century American women journalists
21st-century American journalists
University of West Georgia alumni