Today we’d like to introduce you to Mia O’Brien.
Hi Mia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Mia O’Brien has covered Jacksonville-area sports on both television and radio since 2018, headlined by her award-winning coverage of the NFL and the Jacksonville Jaguars. In July 2026, she signed a multi-year extension with ESPN to continue as a national Radio and digital host covering all sports.
Sprung from cages on Highway 9 somewhere in the swamps of Jersey, Mia grew up playing soccer, acting in middle school theater productions, and fixating on the New York Yankees. Those passions all came together when she first attended the Bruce Beck and Ian Eagle Sports Broadcasting Camp at age 15 in 2008. Her first “real” reporting assignments and by-lines came as a student reporter for Cablevision’s “MSG Varsity” all-high school sports channel. That set O’Brien on a collision course to attend Ithaca College, where, in addition to her media involvement, O’Brien was a Park Scholar, the only full tuition, merit-based scholarship for communications students in the world.
At Ithaca, O’Brien became the first (and, unfortunately, remains the only) woman to host “The Gridiron Report,” the weekly football coaches show and also the longest running college television program in the country. She also was the sideline reporter for Ithaca College Television broadcasts of Ithaca football for two seasons. O’Brien was also heavily involved in the greater campus community, including serving as Senior Class President and working as a Student Leadership Consultant in the Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs.
The summer before her senior year, O’Brien freelanced at WENY-TV (ABC) in Elmira, New York, covering NASCAR at Watkins Glen and New York Jets Training Camp, amongst other storylines. That “previous work experience” opened the door for O’Brien to jump right to Market No. 82 out of college, as she joined KGAN (now known as Iowa’s News Now) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after graduating from IC magna cum laude in May 2015. O’Brien spent three years covering the Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa State Cyclones, Northern Iowa Panthers, minor league sports and more. Highlights included Iowa’s Rose Bowl 2015 season and being on-site for Northern Iowa’s buzzer-beater win over Texas in the first-round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
O’Brien joined First Coast News in Jacksonville as the Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter in September 2018. Around the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic, she added freelance roles at both 1010XL and ESPN+ (with the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University), which ultimately set the groundwork for her pivot to a full-time role at 1010XL in April 2022. O’Brien served as the mid-day radio show host and Director of Multimedia Production until July 2025, when she joined ESPN Radio.
Today, O’Brien co-hosts “Gamenight” on ESPN Radio nationally (10 pm – 1 am EST), in addition to other fill-in roles throughout the week as assigned. With her enhanced role, she is also slated to serve as a digital host for ESPN and sideline reporter for ESPN Radio broadcasts, beginning with the Florida-South Carolina football game this October. O’Brien also served as a play-by-play announcer for the 2026 ASUN Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament, in addition to regularly calling games at Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida since 2021. She also co-hosts “The Women’s Basketball Podcast” with USA Today’s Mitch Northam.
Additionally, Mia has served as an adjunct instructor in the Taylor Leadership Institute since 2022. In July 2025, as she transitioned to her national role with ESPN, Mia also moved into a full-time role with TLI. She oversees co-curricular programming including the award-winning TLI Ritz-Carlton Mentoring Program and coordinates service opportunities for Leadership students and student-athletes, among other responsibilities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the words of Boston Celtics president and former head coach Brad Stevens: “the pain is part of the path.” Working in local news for nearly a decade is not for the faint of heart, especially as the world of news and content evolved from 2011-2022 under our very feet. But, comparatively to other women in sports, I have been blessed to have amazing male allies and mentors who have helped me along the way. I have, largely, never encountered the stereotypical discrimination associated with being a woman in a male dominated field. I’ve been told “no” plenty of times — whether that be for a job or an interview subject — and I’ve had to lug a 15 lb video camera, a tripod, a “clamshell” editing device, a LiveU unit, and a laptop editing backpack 2 miles from parking lot to a football stadium more times than I can count. My belief is that these moments have helped build a rock-solid foundation that proved “I wanted it” where others may not, and is the reason I’ve been able to withstand any negative commentary. Most certainly there have been disagreements with bosses along the way (some of which led to eventual job changes), but, ultimately, I consider myself very blessed and fortunate.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Since I was a student at Ithaca College, I have always prided myself on being a “five-tool player” in sports media. I host, on TV and radio. I can produce a show. I can shoot my own video. I can equally break news as a beat reporter and tell a great story as a feature reporter. And I can do play-by-play. As the world of media has changed over the last decade, I’ve also recognized how this willingness to try (and prior experience) in different subsets of the industry has positively translated to changing mediums of sports media. Now, in addition to listing off those “five tools,” I can also say that I know what “plays” on Instagram vs. an X/Twitter audience. I can develop a monetization strategy for YouTube proliferation and develop a brand. At the same time, I can also recognize and engage the difference in an online listening audience vs. radio audience vs. a television audience — and so on and so forth. Even nationally at ESPN, I am unsure how many people have this varied a skillset.
Of those “five tools,” I’m probably most “known” for my NFL coverage — which is a direct reflection of that diversified skillset. I was still in local news when Urban Meyer’s ill-fated 11 months as the Jacksonville Jaguars took place, and my news station was the one that, in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Times, broke the story of Meyer “kicking the kicker” and subsequent firing, in addition to his other off-the-field drama. I was awake and, largely, on the air for 46 of 48 hours, as the firing coincided with National Signing Day for high school football student-athletes. I was already planning my next move to radio/multimedia at this point, but my multi-platform coverage and execution verified to me that this was indeed the path moving forward. That next season was my first as the Director of Multimedia Production at 1010XL, and many of the practices I immediately implemented (sponsored Instant Reaction “Quick Hits,” behind-the-scenes field level video, proper YouTube title/thumbnail practices) were suddenly being modeled across the market and region months later.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I wrote my Common App college essay on French dressing. As a child, I dipped everything from meat to French Fries to vegetables in French dressing. In the essay, I contend that, as I matured, I myself was a living embodiment of French dressing with my zest for life and ability to spice up any room. The idea came from a college visit to Hofstra University where the admissions counselor said “the best essay we read last year was a ‘Topic of Your Choice’ about warm fuzzy socks.” I immediately asked my friend next to me what the most random thing about me was. “You have an irrational fear of bananas” (This is also true). “Nah, that’ll scare them. What else?” That’s when the French dressing idea hit me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://miaobrien.weebly.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mobrien_16
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miaeobrien/
- Twitter: https://x.com/MiaOBrienTV
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MiaOBrienTV
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/c/themobriennflnotebook/posts
