Lisa Guerrero is the first to admit that she didn’t go about getting her jobs as a sports anchor for Fox Sports Net and a sports reporter for KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles in a conventional way. Unlike many of her colleagues, Guerrero didn’t study journalism and never had to work her way up from small-market stations. A model and actress since she was 16, Guerrero got her first on-camera experiences guest starring on shows such as “Cybill,” “In The Heat of the Night” and “Frasier.” She also spent a year playing the evil Francesca Vargas on NBC’s “Sunset Beach.” But that hasn’t seemed to affect her success in the sports television industry. Her career has skyrocketed since she dedicated herself full-time to sports reporting two years ago. In the past year, Guerrero has worked on eight Fox shows, three network specials and one Fox pilot, prompting the Los Angeles Times to select her as the hardest-working local sports reporter. She has also been featured for her sports reporting in Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Daily News.
“I didn’t go about this the traditional way at all,” she said. “Although someone might look at my career and go, ‘Well, she changed from entertainment to sports.’ The difference is, I was always a sports fan. So when I got the opportunity in front of the camera I knew the history of the Dodgers. I knew who (former Dodger shortstop) Maury Wills was. I knew who (former Brooklyn Dodger) Duke Snider was.”
Sports were a big part of Guerrero’s life. She acquired the passion from her father, who raised her after her mother died when Guerrero was eight. “I was kind of like this boy growing up,” said Guerrero. “Rather than dance classes he put me into teams so I was playing softball, basketball and volleyball.”
But it was football that led to her current career. Guerrero was a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams while attending Goldenwest College in Huntington Beach. She was promoted to cheerleading director and then took over as entertainment director, the person responsible for halftime entertainment and pre-game shows. That led to entertainment director positions with the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots. It was during her stay in Boston that she happened to tune into WEEI Sports Radio, where the host, Eddie Andleman, was disparaging backup quarterback Hugh Millen. Guerrero called up and got into an argument with him over Millen’s skills. Andleman was so impressed he invited Guerrero to guest host his next show with him. By the end of the hour he said he wanted to produce a TV show for her.
That connection helped Guerrero land a weekend football show and a weekly sports-talk show on Sports Channel New England. “I decided, ‘Hey, there might be a place for me in sports journalism -- storytelling out on the sports field,” said Guerrero.
Still, it took some time before Guerrero was able to work full time as a sports journalist. After 31/2 years in Boston, Guerrero returned to Los Angeles where she anchored daily health and fitness reports for “Fit TV” on Fox Sports Net and was a feature reporter for “Every Woman,” a syndicated special featuring highly successful women in business and entertainment. She also landed a co-hosting role on “Sports Geniuses,” a sports game show that led to her current roles with Fox.
“The best thing about the show (Sports Geniuses) was that was just the entry to get a contract with Fox — an overall deal. Reporting and anchoring was the direction I wanted to do full time. ‘Sports Geniuses’ was a great way to get on the air.”
Nowadays, Guerrero can be found almost everywhere on Fox’s programming. In addition to anchoring Fox Sports Net’s regional sports shows for Southern California and Rocky Mountain and reporting for KTVV, she also appears on FX’s “Toughman” show, Fox Extra Innings on Saturday and Fox Overtime on Sundays.
Although her path might seem unusual, Guerrero is not the first actress to make the transition from entertainment to journalism. Andrea Thompson, the former actress who played Jill Kirkendall on “NYPD Blue” last year is reporting on-air for KRQE News 13 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The line between entertainment and sports has been blurring for years — NBC’s foray into the XFL is just the latest example. In an era where basketball players want to be rap stars (Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson) and country singers want to play baseball (Garth Brooks), then it doesn’t seem so much of a reach that a former soap opera star ends up anchoring the local sports news.
But Guerrero says it takes more than looks to make it in the sports television industry. While her entertainment background helped her get into the field, she says it is her sports knowledge that made her successful. “If you are going to do sports and if you’re a woman then you better know your sports,” she said. “If you have a great look then that’s going to help you. Obviously, television is a visual medium. The better you look and the more presentable you look the more sellable you are. Even before all that stuff you need to know your sports and you need to know how to write your own material.”