Cari Champion was born in Pasadena, California. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in English and minored in mass communications. She also wrote for the campus newspaper, the Daily Bruin. Champion began her broadcasting career at the Orange County News Channel before moving to WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida, and later WGCL-TV in Atlanta.

In 2012, she joined ESPN as host of First Take, becoming the first Black woman to host the show. She then moved to SportsCenter anchor in 2014, and later hosted SportsNation, making history again as one of the first Black women to anchor the program. She departed ESPN in February 2020 after nearly eight years.

After leaving ESPN, she co-hosted Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports with Jemele Hill on Vice TV. She launched The Cari Champion Show on Amazon Prime Video Sports Talk and her interview podcast, Naked with Cari Champion, where she explores life-altering moments with prominent guests. She also founded Brown Girls Dream, a mentorship network for women of color in media, and serves as a regular CNN contributor.