Stephen A. Smith Is About To Get a $120 Million Contract From ESPN: Report

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Stephen A. Smith, the opinionated sports commentator who has become synonymous with ESPN’s First Take, is reportedly on the verge of signing an historic contract with the network.

According to sources cited by The Athletic, the deal is expected to be roughly six years and $120 million. That would make Smith one of the highest-paid on-air personalities at ESPN.

The contract would place him in the company of sports broadcasting elite like Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, who have also signed lucrative deals with the network in recent years.

Smith’s current compensation, which includes an $8 million salary and an additional $4 million from a production contract, would significantly increase if this deal is completed.

An $8 to $12 million ($20 million overall) per year bump. That’s insane.

Stephen A. Smith is nearing a historic deal nearing a 6-year, $120 million. 🤯💰 pic.twitter.com/pVAZnSJ8vE

— My Mixtapez (@mymixtapez) December 4, 2024

Stephen A. Smith’s Contract Is Absurd

I have to admit, I don’t get the Stephen A. Smith appeal. And I certainly don’t understand how the economics of the contract works out to make him worthy of $20 million per year.

Dude does not translate that much into advertising and sales for the network. This isn’t an MLB contract for a player who directly yields an increase in ticket sales.

Smith is an entertaining addition to the ESPN commentary lineup, but he’s just that – entertainment. He is a character actor with a gimmick, much like a WWE superstar. He adds very little to the sports analysis game.

He is, as the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick writes, “a stereotypical holy-rolling preacher man but with conspicuous grammatical deficiencies.”

But hey, man, that character is going to pay off to the tune of about $20 million/year, so what do we know?

He Wanted More

As Bounding Into Sports previously reported, ESPN had originally offered Stephen A. Smith a five-year $90 million contract.

That number though, was never close enough to keep him at the network. So they added an extra $30 million year into the fray for good measure, leaving us reportedly with the $20 million average salary.

I suppose it’s a bargain, though. Stephen A was apparently looking for a whopping $25 million per season.

Which is an incredible amount of money for a personality who, at least in my circle of sports fans, has never generated the following comment on a significant story: ‘Hey, I wonder what Stephen A. Smith’s take is on this.’