If life in sports was a board game, it would most certainly be Monopoly. People make moves all of the time, some wind up in jail, a few spend a fortune on insane properties, and there's a crazy amount money tossed around each and every time you blink. It's not slowing down, either.
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One of the biggest sports media personalities has reportedly struck a deal that should make every head coach from New York to Los Angeles blush.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, ESPN was looking to make Stephen A. Smith the richest talent in the company's history back in April. The Worldwide Leader in Sports was reportedly about to sign the on-air personality to a deal worth $10 million per year.
Then, in November, The Post reported Smith has a new five-year contract that will pay him an annual salary of about $8 million each year.
Using the sportscaster's words, that's quite frankly preposterous and unfathomable.
Whether you like him or not, the 51-year-old Smith has done it all in his career. He started his career in the print media industry, most famously with the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and starred as a radio host and on television for the past few years as a sports personality with ESPN, Sirius XM and Fox Sports Radio.
Heck, the man has even been an actor in commercials and during ABC soap opera General Hospital, for crying out loud. His former ESPN counterpart Skip Bayless and current First Take co-hosts Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim can't say that.
But to think Stephen A. Smith, the sports journalist who is never shy to speak and make his opinion known as loudly as possible on social media, TV and radio, is going to be ESPN's highest-paid talent is pretty wild.
Stephen A Smith Salary
Although not all ESPN salaries are released, The Post reports the highest publicly known salary is Get Up! host Mike Greenberg, while the Pardon the Interruption (PTI) duo of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are "believed to be in Greenberg's neighborhood."
Additionally, Scott Van Pelt could be up there with how well his nightly "SportsCenter" has taken off.
Before the new report, Smith, a Queens, New York native and graduate of Winston-Salem State University, had two years left on his contract, which was paying him around $5 million annually, according to the New York Post.
The new contract of $8 million annually will also pay the sports television personality from Thomas Edison High School in New York City more money than most athletes and coaches.
So the next time you want to bash Stephen Anthony Smith for getting on your nerves talking about LeBron James in the NBA on his television talk show or the NFL on his ESPN radio show or even UFC, just know he's laughing, and probably yelling, all the way to the bank.
From starting his career with the Winston-Salem Journal and Greensboro News and Record to making $8 million at ESPN. Talk about a Hall of Fame boost to your net worth.
