Erica L. Ayala

Locked On Kraken and Locked On NHL host Erica L. Ayala is a Tulsa-based freelance multimedia journalist and founder of Black Rosie Media. Black Rosie Media is a conglomerate and community focused on empowering Black women and other melanated people in sports media. BRM has credentialed melanated creators at the 2022 WNBA All-Star Weekend, the 2023 PHF All-Star Showcase, and has been credentialed for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Erica is the first Black or Latina broadcaster for the Premier Hockey Federation (formerly the National Women’s Hockey League). She called her first NHL game on International Women’s Day 2022 as part of the all-women broadcast for New Jersey Devils Radio. She is believed to be the first Black woman or Latina to call a game for the National Hockey League. She will be the first broadcaster in league history to participate in over 100 broadcasts this season. She also called NWSL games on Paramount+ during the 2022 regular season. As a freelancer writer, Erica covers women’s basketball & hockey, and soccer. Her work has appeared in Forbes SportsMoney, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, espnW, and more. In 2022, she travelled to China to cover the Beijing Winter Olympics. She has been tapped as the chair of the first-ever women’s chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PWHA). Erica received her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in African-American Studies from Elon University. She is an Elon Softball letter winner and a 2006 Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar. Her alma mater honored her at the 2015 Top 10 under 10 Alumni Awards ceremony. She completed her Master of Public Administration at the NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service in May 2016. Listen to Erica daily on the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every day.