Bri Amaranthus ’14 has more than 12 years of experience covering all aspects of sports journalism.
by Sophie Fowler ’26
Meet Bri Amaranthus ’14
Current job:
Publisher for the Sports Illustrated Network, including running Oregon Ducks on SI.
First job out of college:
While I was still in college, I interned for NBC Sports Northwest and worked my way into a full-time role as an Oregon Ducks insider.
Biggest career accomplishment so far:
I interviewed all three members of the Cowboys’ iconic triplets: Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. As a bonus, I also interviewed Deion Sanders.
SOJC faculty who made the biggest impact:
Rebecca Force, professor and Duck TV faculty advisor. I really appreciated her tough love, high standards and real-life anecdotes that helped prepare me for the industry.
Most useful experience in college:
The hands-on experiences, especially filming, editing and producing a music video. Those projects helped me build real skills and confidence.
Best thing about the SOJC:
The fresh ideas that come from authentic collaboration. There is nothing like the feeling of endless possibilities.
Before Bri Amaranthus ’14 covered Oregon Football from the sidelines, she was the kid at Autzen Stadium singing “Shout” before the fourth quarter.
That full-circle moment is only one piece of a sports media career that has taken Amaranthus from Oregon football practices to NBA sidelines, NFL locker rooms and interviews with some of the biggest names in sports. An Emmy-winning producer and seasoned sports journalist with more than 12 years of experience, Amaranthus is the publisher and lead reporter for Sports Illustrated’s “Oregon Ducks on SI.”
Now, 12 years after leaving Oregon, Amaranthus is moving home. She’ll be closer to family, the community that shaped her and the team that first sparked her love of sports. The move will also allow her to cover the Ducks more closely than ever, taking fans even deeper inside the program.
Amaranthus has covered all aspects of sports journalism, including television, radio, podcasting and digital sports. And during her tenure in sports, both as an athlete and a journalist, she has witnessed how the power of sports unites communities.
“I’ve seen how it provides a universal language that crosses cultural and social boundaries,” Amaranthus said. “It turns strangers into high-fiving teammates. That shared energy is unmatched. It’s one of the great unifiers.”
Choosing the University of Oregon
As a lifelong fan of the Ducks, some of Amaranthus’ earliest memories involved driving from Grants Pass to Eugene to watch Oregon football games and sing “Shout” before the fourth quarter.
In the spring, Amaranthus’ Saturdays were spent playing softball, and she won two Oregon 6A state titles, earning her a Division 1 softball scholarship to the University of San Diego.
But that plan changed when she received some terrible news during her first year at school.
“My dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer and given a 7% chance of survival,” Amaranthus said. “I transferred to Oregon to be closer to home during his surgeries and treatments.”
Her dad survived, and Amaranthus joined the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), majoring in electronic media and public relations with a minor in business. During her time at the SOJC, she was a member of Duck TV, worked at a nutrition bar in the UO Athletic Department and had an internship at KEZI 9 News. Those opportunities convinced Amaranthus that sports was the avenue she wanted to pursue.
“As an athlete, I always loved being interviewed and wondered what it was like on the other side of the microphone,” Amaranthus said.
From college to career to an Emmy
Amaranthus got an unpaid internship while she was a junior with NBC Sports Northwest. Although the channel was not offering fall football internships, Amaranthus made sure to introduce herself to the hiring manager during a presentation.
“I found the hiring manager’s information online and convinced him that he needed an intern during football season,” Amaranthus said. “It was unpaid, but it was the most valuable fall of my life.”
She said she could help cover football, and by her senior year of college, she was spending late nights during football season not hanging out with friends but editing video at Autzen Stadium and learning how to interview coaches and players.
That internship led to a better opportunity in Portland, where she worked as an “Oregon Ducks insider” for NBC Sports Northwest. As a co-host, beat reporter, social media manager and digital media producer, she covered many top sporting events, including the first-ever College Football Playoffs, the Rose Bowl and NBA Playoffs with the Portland Trail Blazers.
She later became co-host of NBC Sports Northwest’s first-ever one-hour daily prime-time show, “The Bridge.” During her tenure, she interviewed many musicians, such as Portugal the Man, as well as actors and athletes, including Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard.
Amaranthus also won a Northwest Regional Emmy as a producer for her work on the “All-Star Coach” special, a television production series spotlighting coaches making an impact on their communities.
Amaranthus moved to Dallas, Texas, and joined Sports Illustrated in 2020, covering the NFL Cowboys and NBA Mavericks. In that job, she interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including former NBA power forward Dirk Nowitzki, former NFL player and current University of Colorado football Coach Deion Sanders, sports commentator Michael Irvin and former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.
The surreal, unforgettable moment when sports shut down
Three months after she started her job at Sports Illustrated, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports.
“I’ll never forget March 11,” Amaranthus recalled. “I was standing next to Mark Cuban on the sideline at the American Airlines Center in Dallas when he got the call that the NBA was suspending the season. His jaw dropped,” Amaranthus said.
While the world was shut down, Amaranthus covered games with cardboard cutouts depicting fans in the stands and tried to distance herself from other reporters.
“It was a surreal time to start, but unforgettable,” Amaranthus said. Now, she not only writes but also conducts on-camera interviews. She has hosted sports shows for NBC and has a large social following where she posts photos and videos from games and events she covers.
“I love bringing out personalities on camera so fans can see what players and coaches are like off the field — their laughs, their mannerisms, their quirks,” Amaranthus said. “Showing people something they can’t see from the stands or on TV is my favorite part.”
Returning home for a different reason
Amaranthus loves traveling for work; exploring new cities, stadiums and traditions; and experiencing game days. But there is nothing like traveling home, which she gets to do fairly often while covering Oregon home football games for Sports Illustrated.
A memory she will never forget happened during a 2024 game when Oregon played Ohio State. Amaranthus was on the field reporting when Oregon won, and students rushed the field. Amaranthus found herself unwillingly crowd-surfing. She wasn’t sure what to do and caught the eye of one of Coach Dan Lanning’s security guards, who came to her aid and helped her down.
“That day, Autzen was the loudest I’ve ever heard a stadium, and I’ve covered Luka Dončić playoff buzzer-beaters, Steph Curry threes and CeeDee Lamb touchdowns,” Amaranthus said.
After covering the Ducks from afar and living in Dallas and Boston, Amaranthus and her husband will be returning to her roots and moving back home to Oregon this summer.
Advice for a sports journalism career
During her time at the SOJC, Amaranthus learned skills that she has used throughout her career: attention to detail, doing things the right way, and leaning into research and creativity. For students interested in a sports career, Amaranthus’s biggest piece of advice is to go after internships and build relationships within their careers.
“Internships are everything. Go after them,” Amaranthus said. “Reach out directly to hiring managers. Treat everyone with kindness and respect; it will take you further than you can imagine.”
And in that vein, she makes an effort to lend a hand to SOJC students pursuing sports journalism, like alum Lily Crane ’25, who now also works for SI.
“Supporting current SOJC students is one of the most meaningful parts of my job,” Amaranthus said. “I remember what it felt like to be a student trying to break into the industry, so I try to create opportunities where students can gain real experience, build confidence and feel supported as they develop their voice.”
Sophie Fowler ’26 is a news reporter for Central Oregon Daily News and previously worked for the Redmond Spokesman as a Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism intern. At the SOJC, she majored in journalism with a minor in art and tech. She was a student in the Clark Honors College and an intern with Quack Video and the SOJC Communication team. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.