Fox Sports studio host Charissa Thompson spends her NFL offseason with cattle, horses, ducks, sheep, a pig, five cats and five dogs.
From about February until August, Thompson retreats to Ruby Ranch, a 75-acre ranch located in Emerald City, Calif., that she purchased in 2021, where the rescued animals live.
Thompson, who hosts Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” pre- and postgame shows, discussed her life as a rancher in an interview with The Post ahead of Super Bowl 2026.
“As cheesy as it sounds, it fulfills me. It really balances the scale of the world I live in, which is great — TV, lights and makeup,” Thompson said while speaking on behalf of her Super Bowl commercial for Bounty.
“Then, on the other side, it’s this very simplistic nature [and] getting back to the real stuff. It balances the scale. It makes me so happy. But it also motivates me to continue doing the other part that I love, which is sports and television in general. I can’t have one without the other. And I’m not a mom and I’m not going to have kids, so I feel like that feeds my maternal instinct there too. And honestly, whatever mess is there, because there’s always messes at the ranch, I can use these bad boys [Bounty paper towels] to clean it up.”
The Bounty commercial shows Thompson eating wings with former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski, who crashed The Post’s interview and gushed over his Fox Sports colleague.
Both Thompson and Gronkowski were in Santa Clara, Calif. for the Super Bowl 2026 festivities ahead of Sunday’s big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
The pair worked Super Bowl 2025 in New Orleans as it was broadcast by Fox.
The network will next broadcast the Super Bowl in 2028.
Thompson — the co-host of the “Calm Down” podcast with her best friend and veteran Fox Sports sidelines reporter Erin Andrews — worked her final game of the 2025 season on Jan. 13 with Amazon.
“The origin story behind this is I just always loved animals,” she said. “But then I started watching ‘Yellowstone’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, ranches are cool!’ … I just kept looking for ranches that were in California that I could drive to.
“It’s definitely a passion project to how I wish I could save all these animals. The more [animals] I save, I want to save more. It’s addicting. I’ll take the [animal] cast off on the side of the road, or the random sheep that were going to be sold because they sold the barn or the ranch next to mine. Anyways, I just feel like it’s my rent on earth is to give back.”
“It turned into now my dream animal rescue [project]. So I work to subsidize the ranch because I do have to have people there that take care of it full time, and I’m grateful that I can do that.”
All proceeds from the merchandise sold at Ruby Ranch support animal rescue.
Although it’s a passion project, it’s also a business.
When Thompson isn’t at her ranch, from September through January, she has staff that care for the animals and upkeep at the property.
“I have two full-time employees and then there’s like three other ones that kind of give them breaks in between when I’m in my football season,” she said. “When it’s not football season, obviously I try to be there as much as I can.
“As far as animals, I mean, if we’re counting chickens, then God knows how many I actually have,” she said laughing. “There are six cattle, four horses, two ducks, two sheep, one pig, five cats and five dogs.
“… Now to the bird count, I have multiple peacocks. But chickens, there’s like 45 of them. And I’m in the process of getting goats.”
Thompson’s boyfriend of three years, Steve Cundari — who is a founder and partner of Summit House, a venture studio of specialized agencies to help grow brands that’s based in Los Angeles — also looks after the ranch during the NFL season.
Thompson and Cundari, who met through his college friends, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly Stafford.
Last year, they worked together at the ranch, where Cundari’s company filmed Thompson’s ad for XXIO, the Japanese premium golf brand that announced her as an ambassador.
Ruby Ranch includes Thompson’s home, a guest cottage, garden, saloon, boathouse and general store — all of which she designed.
The ranch, as well as the general store, is named after the ruby red slippers worn by “The Wizard Of Oz” character, Dorothy.
“I’ve always loved the movie, ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” Thompson said. “I love the idea that there’s no place like home. For me, I’ve always traveled. So coming back home, wherever that may be, or whatever you make your home is the place that should feel safe.
“It’s also why the interior design company I started was called House & Home, because I think that anywhere you live, you should love it. So, that was the impetus of Ruby Ranch being based off the ruby slippers.”
Thompson’s commercial with Bounty will air during Super Bowl 2026 on NBC.