Stephen A. Smith is one of the most notable names in the sports media industry, but the ESPN “First Take” star will be a free agent when his ESPN contract expires in July 2025.
WME, Smith’s agency, is already negotiating with ESPN, and Puck reported last week that the Worldwide Leader in Sports already sent in an offer worth about $18 million annually.
Smith and his camp are looking for more, with Front Office Sports reporting that the bidding would start at $20 million, while Puck reported that Smith is looking at around $25 million per year.
The initial offer by ESPN would make Smith’s annual pay equal that of NFL color commentator Troy Aikman, which is the most that ESPN has paid for a talent.
The idea that Smith could potentially achieve this feat is noteworthy of an on-air talent, particularly one that was never a professional player like Aikman Charles Barkley.
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The negotiations have caught the eye of former ESPN talent Dan Le Batard, who has spoken about Smith’s impact in the sport media industry in the past.
“In our time, the person who is at the top of our profession, is now being offered reportedly at ESPN, the highest salary at the history of the company for a talent,” Le Batard said.
Le Batard believes Smith can make more than what ESPN is offering
The sports media industry has evolved where talent are no longer tied to one company. ESPN’s newest golden boy, Pat McAfee, is being paid around $30 million per year by the company, with around $17 million of that as a payment to license “The Pat McAfee Show.”
McAfee built his brand outside of ESPN and then eventually was paid by the network for mutual growth. In Smith’s case, he’s already built a brand through ESPN, and Le Batard believes that he can actually leave the network and make even more than the nearly $20 million a year he’s being offered.
“He can do this for more than $18 million a year on his own,” Le Batard said. “He doesn’t need ESPN.”
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Le Batard has been pushing the idea that sports media figures can make a ton of money on their own for a while. The former host of “Highly Questionable” is his own example of attempting this endeavor as he left ESPN in 2021 and started Meadowlark Media alongside ex-ESPN president John Skipper.
With Smith already creating his own podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show” and even establishing a production company, Mr. SAS, Smith is equipped to venture outside of the Disney-backed (DIS) network.
And FOS and Puck both reported that this is an option for Smith.
But staying at ESPN does have a lot of positive for Smith. Other than the surefire eight-figure paycheck, Smith will be able to use the pool of resources from the legacy brand that he’s been with for over a decade.
How can ESPN make better use of Smith’s talent
While Smith has become the face of ESPN, he is still limited in his knowledge of sports outside of the NBA. That’s been exposed recently as the likes of Monica McNutt have called out Smith’s lack of WNBA coverage over the last several years.
However, Smith is reportedly looking to build on his repertoire as FOS reported last week that he wants to have more direct coverage of the NFL. That could include spots on ESPN’s NFL studio shows like “Monday Night Countdown.”
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Le Batard’s executive producer Mike Ryan Ruiz added that he believes that Smith deserves the pay bump from ESPN, particularly because he boosts ratings for the likes of the NFL and NBA through his takes. He thinks that ESPN should pay him even more if he can continue to become more versatile with the sports he can cover.
“I think he deserves it,” Mike Ryan Ruiz said. “He is the entirety of that network. Their entire daytime programming strategy is around him … He is the straw that stirs their drink. He sets the table for all the rights that they have, unless it’s the Stanley Cup. So what I would do if I were ESPN is I would pay him $10 million for every sport that he could actually cover.”
Ruiz’ point was further supported when during the Monday, June 24 show of “First Take,” Smith admitted that he does not know “a damn thing about hockey” on the day of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Stephen A. Smith: “Guess who’s about to do that hockey, bro. It’s us! It’s us, baby! And guess what, Shay Shay, your boy is in Florida. I’m going to Game 7. I don’t know a damn thing about hockey other than the fact that the puck is black.” pic.twitter.com/tS08bZggy4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 24, 2024
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