2 minutes with: Gianna Girardi

  Having an uncle who was a manager and player for the New York Yankees means one of two things: You get tired hearing about baseball or you love it. For Gianna Girardi (StComm’24), it was definitely the latter.

She said she was “pretty much in a baseball stadium her entire life,” and seeing the in-game hosts sparked her interest in sports reporting. So, when it came time to apply to college, CMDI was an obvious choice because of the sports media minor. Now, Girardi is an in-game host for the Colorado Rockies—another team her uncle played for—and more recently, the Buffaloes, so you may catch her at Folsom.

 

Being an in-game host is a lot of work, but Girardi makes it look easy! She took us behind the scenes for a day in her life, and you can check it out on Instagram.

CMDI alumna Gianna Girardi (StComm'24) is one of the in-game hosts for the Rockies. Photo courtesy of Gianna Girardi.

Responses edited for length and clarity.

  I gotta ask: Who’s your baseball team?

I grew up in Fort Collins as a Yankees fan and a Rockies fan at the same time—gotta support the family—but every other sport, I'm a Colorado fan till I die. 

  What’s it like working for a team you love?

It’s been a blast! People go to sporting events for entertainment, and it's cool to see how sports can pull so many different people together. The best part of my job is definitely being able to tell a story about something fun.

  Tell me a little bit about what you do.

I’m working for the Rockies, and now CU, hosting the games. It’s been fun to be back in Boulder for Buffs games. As for the Rockies, I run around a lot to host various “hits,” or segments, throughout the game. Sometimes it’s game updates, but a lot of times they’re promos for different companies, which has related to my strategic communication major—my emphasis was advertising.

Hosting for CU is such a full-circle experience for me. I truly got my start in sports media in Boulder and loved getting to interact with the fans and players. Homecoming was especially fun since there’s so much energy and I’m really grateful to be back at my alma mater doing something I love.

  Favorite class from your time at CMDI?

That’s hard, there were two. One was History Through Baseball and it taught me a lot. I had never dove into the history of any sports or how they came to be.

And then I took a sports broadcasting class with Eric Pelloni, and that's where I got more hands-on experience, like when I produced and was the on-screen talent for an assignment. I’d never done anything on the production side before, and it was so beneficial to learn.

  Sounds like those were really helpful to what you do now. What about internships?

My sophomore year, I interned with the MLB Network, in New York, and had another internship with Altitude Sports covering the Nuggets and Avs. I also worked with CU’s sports department.

  Impressive! Do you have advice for students wanting to get into the industry?

Get as much experience as you can, whether it's volunteering at your local high school or working for CU Sports. Getting into sports broadcasting isn’t linear—there are so many paths you can take.

Hannah Stewart graduated from CMDI in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news for the college.